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He is Pakistan’s explosive batter. He’s a big match player, and he is a match-winner. That’s what Fakhar Zaman means for Pakistan cricket. Time has witnessed how brutal he can be when he gets going big. Especially when it comes to one-day cricket. However, his form in the shortest format hasn’t lived up to the expectations as compared to ODIs. It has been really poor for a while, which begs the question: Fakhar for WC 2026?
A player like Fakhar is a gem. A top-order power hitter who burst into the international arena in the Champions Trophy 2017. He replaced struggling Ahmed Shehzad and went on to score more than 250 runs in Pakistan’s tournament triumph. A year later, in a Zimbabwe T20 tri-series, he was again Pakistan’s best batter, with him scoring a match-winning 91 in the final against Australia. Fakhar’s number grew as he became the first and only Pakistani to score a double century in ODI cricket.
The southpaw has scored 150+ in an ODI three times, easily the most by any Pakistani batter. He registered 193 against South Africa, which came in a close loss in 2021. He then scored 180 unbeaten in 2023 against New Zealand while chasing 336. In the same year, during the ODI World Cup, New Zealand put on a daunting 401. But Fakhar had no issue as he belted his way to an unbeaten 126 from 81 balls with Pakistan winning on the DLS method. Who knows, he could have kept going on had rain not interrupted.
These are his One Day cricket numbers, and he struck at 93, the third-best strike rate for a Pakistan batter (with at least 1000 runs scored in the format).
But when it comes to T20Is, his form does not match the calibre of such a player. Which is why we would look at his record at the shorter format and why, for someone who likes hitting the ball hard, fails to hype that match in it.
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T20 failures ask whether Pakistan need Fakhar for WC 2026
Fakhar Zaman is the fifth-highest run-scorer for Pakistan in the Twenty20 format. Among Pakistan batters who have scored at least 1000 runs in the format, Fakhar’s average of 23.65 is the second-lowest. But his strike rate of 131 is the third best in the same category. So why is this an issue?
It is not, really. It is his on-and-off performances in the format. There hasn’t been any long run where he kept his performances at a high level. Fakhar’s peak in T20I was in his 22nd match, in the tri-series final against Australia in 2018: his average (30.76) and SR (143.55) were at their highest and were among the world’s best. But that was his highest point; it came down afterwards. From his match 28 onwards, his strike rate never went above 140, and his average has dropped under 30.
And it has been an issue that has persisted for the past seven and a half years. Fakhar takes time to settle before going berserk. There have been some moments in his career, but it seems that it comes once in a blue moon. This may also be related to his position in the format. He used to open the innings. But following the 2020 New Zealand tour, where neither Fakhar (fever) nor Babar (broken thumb) participated, Rizwan made his statement. And the management had found a new opening pair in Rizwan and Babar, who went on to become the most successful opening pair in T20Is for Pakistan.
Also Read: End of RizBar – World’s most successful yet dysfunctional partnership in T20Is
Fakhar’s opening record reads 22 average and 131 strike rate as compared to his one down record, where it reads 25 average and 121 strike rate. That is a big gap in strike rates at opening and at one drop. At two down, he averages 25 but strikes at a solid 150. It is particularly because he would know that it’s either a hit or an out from that point. The two down is his current position.
That seem has been the case for Fakhar at number four, and given the current Pakistan T20I side, their middle-order has been struggling. Though recent numbers won’t say that he can be the solution, not at least in the coming event.
There has been another problem for the left-handed power-hitter when it comes to his fitness. There have been times when his fitness wasn’t up to the mark and had been left out. Such was the 2025 Champions Trophy, where in the opening game against New Zealand, Fakhar suffered a muscular sprain and was ruled out of the event. It happened again during the West Indies tour last year, where he was ruled out due to a hamstring injury.
Recent T20 performances and results in slow conditions
The World Cup, which will be played in India and Sri Lanka, will be Fakhar’s fourth T20I event should he be picked and play. Pakistan will be playing their matches in Sri Lanka. On slow and low pitches such as the West Indies, Sri Lanka, USA, UAE and Bangladesh, Fakhar collectively has a strike rate of 114.
Furthermore, in the Men’s T20 World Cup and Men’s Asia Cup, he collectively has a strike rate of 115 and an average of 20. In the Men’s T20 World Cup, he scored only ONE fifty; a blistering, unbeaten 55 in the semi-final against Australia in 2021.
Now that the tournament records are out of the way, the main question about his exclusion from the final fifteen comes from his recent form. His last ten matches have seen him average by 21 and a strike rate under 120. It has been a concern, especially the way he gets out sometimes, trying too hard to get runs.
His performance in the International T20 League was poor, too. He averaged at 21, and with a SR of 124 in 12 matches he played. Though the Desert Vipers, the team he represented, won the event for the very first time.
If Fakhar Zaman does get picked in the final 15, then this may well be the last time he could represent Pakistan in the Men’s T20 World Cup event. He will soon be 36, and there are a lot of youngsters waiting to get their chances.
There is no doubt about the power and ability Fakhar possesses, and only he can prove everyone wrong. All eyes are on him.
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