“So Fakhar Zaman is officially out from India game as well” – Fans erupt as Pakistan opener dropped for PAK vs SL 2023 World Cup match

Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman was dropped for the 2023 World Cup match against Sri Lanka at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Tuesday, October 10. Abdullah Shafique replaced him in the playing XI.

At the toss, Babar Azam said:

"We aren't up to the mark at the top and we made one change. Abdullah Shafique comes in for Fakhar."

The development comes after Zaman’s struggle in ODIs over the last few games. The left-handed batter failed to score a half-century in the 50-over format in his last 11 innings, scoring 202 runs at an average of 18.36, with the highest score of 33. The 33-year-old, though, had scored 454 runs in his first five innings of 2023, including three tons and one half-century with the best score of 180*.

Shafique, on the other hand, recently smashed a half-century against Lanka in his last outing during the 2023 Asia Cup.

Fans on Twitter (formerly known as Twitter) came up with mixed reactions to Fakhar Zaman getting dropped from Pakistan’s playing XI. One user wrote:

“So Fakhar Zaman is officially out from India game as well."

Here are some more reactions:

Fakhar Zaman dropped as Sri Lanka opt to bat against Pakistan in World Cup game

Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka won the toss and opted to bat first in the World Cup match against Pakistan on Tuesday. They made a solitary change as Maheesh Theekshana replaced Kasun Rajitha in the playing XI. At the toss, he said:

“We will bat first, there was some assistance for the bowlers in the second half in the previous game. We have one change - Theekshana comes in for Kasun Rajitha. It is about execution and the boys have been playing a lot of cricket and hopefully, we will do well in this game.”

Sri Lanka are coming off the back of a 102-run loss against South Africa, while Pakistan beat the Netherlands by 81 runs in their opening game of the World Cup.

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Sri Lanka (XI): Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis(w), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dasun Shanaka(c), Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana, Dilshan Madushanka.

Pakistan (XI): Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf.

Follow PAK vs SL 2023 World Cup live score updates here.