Fakhar Zaman ‘dreams’ of playing at Lord’s

Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman, who enjoyed an impressive outing during the tour match against Leicestershire County where he amassed 71 runs and shared a century stand with Azhar Ali, is looking to fulfill his dream of playing at Lord’s.

Speaking after stumps on the first day, Zaman said that he was preparing for the longer format for the past month and was glad that he was amongst the runs.

“I have played a lot of red-ball cricket back home so it was not difficult for me to settle in,” said Zaman while talking to ESPNcricinfo. “I had been working on my game for the longer version since last month so it felt really good that I was able to score some runs today.”

Playing at the historic Lord’s cricket stadium is a massive occasion for most cricketers and the young left-handed batsmen has his eyes set on a dream debut at Lord’s.

“I’m hopeful that team management gives me an opportunity but it depends on how the situation pans out,” said Zaman. “It is a dream to play at Lord’s and I will look to perform well if selected.” 

He was cautious at the beginning of the session but returned to his naturally aggressive style of play, which earned him his fame in the shorter formats of the game, as the day came to a close.

“I was trying to be aggressive at the start as well but they [Leicester] were bowling well and it was not easy to score,” said the opening batsmen. “I wanted to see out the new ball and then later capitalise once I had got my eye in”

Talking about the vacuum left by the departure of stalwarts Misbahul Haq and Younis Khan, Zaman was confident that young players coming through the ranks will take their place, however, he was quick to add that it won’t be an easy task.

“The retirements of Misbah and Younis have given younger players the opportunity to step up and take the team forward but we have big shoes to fill. Usaman Salahuddin played a good knock and Saad Ali is also a good player, although he was unlucky not to get some runs today,” added Zaman.