ISLAMABAD: Fakhar Zaman travelled to the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 without a single ODI appearance to his name. By the time he returned to Pakistan as a match-winner in the final, people were travelling hundreds of kilometres just to take a picture with him.
The left-handed opening batter will make his return to the Pakistan team on home soil when the competition returns from February 19 with the match between Pakistan and New Zealand, looking to recreate the heroics of eight years ago.
In that tournament, he started out of the team, earned a One-Day debut and went on to form the foundation of a final victory over India in one of the greatest days in Pakistani cricketing history. Even so, he was taken aback by the response when he landed back home. “It was special back in Pakistan,” he recalled.
“I didn’t expect anything like that and I have never seen anything like that in my whole life. People were waiting for us. I was alone on the Peshawar flight, most of the guys were flying to Lahore or Karachi. There were thousands of people waiting at the airport. It took three to four hours to get out of the airport.
“Then there were people waiting on the streets and on the roads. When I got to my hometown, the whole street was full of people. In our villages, we have a guest house and the whole guest house was full of people.
“For many weeks, people residing almost 500km away would come to take a picture. It was unbelievable and it was something special. The way we made people feel at that time, I wish I could do more things like that.”
Fakhar did not feature in the first meeting between Pakistan and India, which India won by 124 runs, but was handed a debut in the second encounter against South Africa. He scored 31 off just 23 in that game as Pakistan stayed alive in the tournament with a 19-run victory at Edgbaston, a knock that is still right up there among his favourite in the format.
He said: “I thought I would go and play positive cricket in that game and if something went wrong, then I would see for the next game against Sri Lanka if I changed. I scored 31 runs and it is still one of my favourite innings in my ODI career.
“I didn’t feel that much pressure in the South Africa game. I felt more pressure in the Sri Lanka game. The first one was my first game and I wasn’t aware of what to expect. There were so many things going through my head, but I didn’t feel that much pressure.
“There was more pressure game by game as we progressed.” While Fakhar went into the tournament with limited expectations, the Pakistan management and senior players never lacked confidence. And after they beat Sri Lanka by three wickets to reach the semi-finals, that belief started to filter through to the rest of the team that they were capable of going all the way.
Up against hosts England in the semi-finals, Pakistan’s bowlers were outstanding in Cardiff, shutting down the previously unstoppable English batters to set up an eight-wicket victory. That set up a final clash with India, the dream match-up for fans, but a meeting that Fakhar almost missed.
“The same thing happened in that game, I got out to a no-ball. Kumar Dharmasena was the third umpire and I was going out. From the boundary, he said ‘wait there’. I was halfway back and when I saw that, I was 100% sure it was a no-ball. After that, I thought maybe it’s my day.”
It certainly turned out that way, with Fakhar earning Player of the Match honours as Pakistan ended up winning by 180 runs, Mohammad Amir doing the damage with the ball as he tore through the dangerous Indian top order.
He concluded: “There are too many memories. The best memory for me was the way the team gelled, to become friends with Shadab, Faheem (Ashraf), Hasan Ali, we became really close.”