ISLAMABAD – Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur has tipped opener FakharZaman to score consecutive double centuries, by replicating his exploitsfrom the fourth ODI in the final match of the series. “Enjoy the moment butremember there could be another on Sunday,” Arthur said in a video messageafter the end of the fourth ODI against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo.
The South African also praised Zaman for his record-breaking achievementwhile mentioning his pre-match conversation with the opener.“Congratulations Fakhar on a brilliant double-hundred,” Arthur said. “Wealways said it was brewing and we had a little chat on the way to theground. I felt that if we batted first, you had a chance of getting adouble-hundred and you carried that out today.
He added: “It just shows you batting is going from strength to strength,you are playing exceptionally well all around the ground, your batting isgetting better and better and you are improving all the time and that’swhat we want in this team.”
Sarfraz and Malik hail Zaman’s performance: Skipper Sarfraz Ahmed was gladwith the performance displayed by Zaman and stated that he always believedthat the left-handed batsman will score a double century, if he played theentire 50 overs. “I’m really happy with how Fakhar performed today and theway he is batting is a good sign for Pakistan cricket,” Sarfraz said. “Wealways had faith in him that whenever he bats the entire fifty overs, hewill go on to score a double century and that is exactly what he didtoday.”
All-rounder Shoaib Malik also had words of appreciation for Zaman and hopedthat he will continue to come up with such performances in the future aswell. “I would like to congratulate him on this massive achievement,” Maliksaid. “This is the kind of feat which you are only able to achieve once ortwice over your entire career which makes me proud of his effort.”
Malik also wished the Mardan-born opener best of luck for the future: “Iwish him the best of luck for his future and hope that he will continueplaying such innings for Pakistan.” The final match of the five-match ODIseries between Pakistan and Zimbabwe will be played on July 22 in Bulawayo.