Fakhar Zaman - A maverick among conformists

It's almost impossible to bowl to an in-form Fakhar Zaman. He will blast the ball through the off side if there is any width on offer. If it's on or about off-stump, he will bring out his famous slog. If the bowler maintains a leg-stump line, he will heave it to the square leg boundary. And if there is a positive spin match-up, he will use the feet and take the aerial route down the ground.

Here is something interesting about Fakhar's batting. Almost one-third of his 180 runs against New Zealand in the second ODI on Saturday came off the slog shot. In a batting line-up consisting of elegant orthodox strokemakers like Babar Azam, Imam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman is an anomaly. Actually you won't find many top-order batters like him with such odd technique in international cricket. 

The third ODI between Pakistan and New Zealand on Wednesday will present Fakhar with the opportunity to become only the second batter after Kumar Sangakkara to score four ODI hundreds on the trot. All of his three consecutive hundreds came against New Zealand and the 180* off just 144 boosted his career average and strike-rate big time.

He made his debut in the 2017 Champions Trophy and took the world by storm after that destructive century against India in the final. Although that seems like a lifetime ago, Fakhar played only 67 ODIs in his six-year career. Since his debut, Pakistan have played 75 ODIs and only New Zealand and Afghanistan among top ten teams played less during this period.

Fakhar has played just 21 ODIs since 2020. Often it becomes difficult for players to adjust to a certain form of cricket especially when they play after long gaps. Fakhar finished the ODI series against New Zealand in January with a hundred. Playing ODIs after three and a half months, it wasn't difficult for him to switch to ODI mode despite playing a host of T20s. O

ODI is indeed his strongest format. He has 25 fifty-plus scores in 67 outings in this format and his numbers are unmatchable. He reached 3000 ODI runs in the last match and only Hashim Amla achieved the milestone in fewer innings. Among players with 3000 ODI runs, only AB de Villiers has a better average (53.5) and strike-rate (101.1) than Fakhar. Seven batters average higher than Fakhar's 49.7 but only de Villiers' strike-rate is better than his 94.3.

Fakhar has a knack of getting really big hundreds, so much so that three of Pakistan's top five highest individual ODI scores are by him. He is the only Pakistani batter to have an ODI double hundred. Fakhar is one of only three batters in ODI history to have three 180-plus scores. The other two are Rohit Sharma and Martin Guptill.

His 180* helped Pakistan chase 337, their second-highest in ODIs. Fakhar averages 83.6 in 300-plus chases.

Fakhar is a decent player of pace but what will encourage Pakistan going into the World Cup is his hitting prowess against spin. He took a particular liking to Rachin Ravindra's left-arm spin and Ish Sodhi's leg-spin (because the ball was turning into him) in the series. Fakhar revealed later that his captain Babar Azam told him to stay till the very end so that he could take the spinners down. 

Hailing from the same city as Younis Khan, Fakhar didn't choose the route that the former did. He didn't become a graceful strokemaker like Younis and instead became a madman who can pummel the best of attacks in the world in his day. He may not be your go-to player when you look for aesthetics but Fakhar Zaman has found a way, his own way, to become one of world's finest top-order players.