PCB issues show cause notice to Fakhar Zaman after batter comes out in support of Babar Azam

Pakistan Cricket Board has issued a show cause notice to its centrally contracted player Fakhar Zaman for an alleged breach of the players code of conduct.

Fakhar had questioned the decision to exclude Babar Azam from the Pakistan squad for the second and third Test against England in a social media post on Sunday.

Fakhar has been asked to submit his reply to the show cause notice by October 21 after the PCB informed him in a notice that he had committed a breach of his contract by criticising the board policies and selection.

Pakistan on Sunday dropped four players for the remainder of their ongoing Test series against England following an innings defeat in the first match recently. Along with Babar, PCB also dropped Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah and Sarfaraz Khan

Aqib Javed, a Pakistan selector, explained the reason behind the decision in a statement. “We’ve had to carefully consider current player form, the urgency to bounce back in the series and Pakistan’s demanding 2024-25 international schedule,” Aaqib said.

“With these factors in mind and in the best interest of Pakistan cricket as well as the players, we’ve made the decision to rest Babar Azam , Naseem Shah, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Shaheen Shah Afridi,” he added.