Pakistan’s top-order batter, Fakhar Zaman, clarified his post, which did not go well with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Fakhar Zaman posted a message in support of Babar Azam after the latter was excluded from the squad for the last two Tests against England in October 2024.

Babar Azam was dropped from the squad following his below-par returns in the first Test against England. Fakhar Zaman shared how India stood by Virat Kohli when the India batter was struggling across formats. He then said that dropping Babar would send a negative message.

However, Fakhar Zaman has now said that he “should not have tweeted” as no one is bigger than the cricket board. However, he also clarified his position, saying that he tweeted before the PCB announced its decision as he was constantly hearing the chatter about Babar being dropped.

“I thought about it later and felt that I should not have tweeted. But people got the tweet completely wrong. They thought that I was criticising the decision of the board, but this is 100 per cent wrong. If you see the timing of the tweet, it was done before the board made its decision,” said Fakhar Zaman.

“I saw in the news for 2-3 days that journalists and former players were criticising him (Babar Azam). And I thought to myself, Babar has done so much for the team, but they still wanted him to be dropped,” he added.

Fakhar Zaman issued show-cause notice

The PCB did not like Fakhar Zaman’s tweet, and the board issued a show-cause notice against him. PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi also revealed that Zaman’s post was one of the main reasons he was not picked for the white-ball series against Australia and Zimbabwe.

Fakhar Zaman has now urged youngsters to not criticise the cricket board, at least during their playing days.

“I saw that and tweeted my opinion out. But I understand that no one is bigger than the board. I will even tell my junior cricketers that however big you become, you are not bigger than the board, and you should not be criticising them during your playing days,” said Zaman.

“But yes, my clarification is that I made my tweet before the team was announced,” he added.

Fakhar Zaman last played for Pakistan in the T20I format, representing the country in a match against Ireland.

The left-handed batter was also not a part of Pakistan’s white-ball squad for the series against South Africa.