Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman Under Scanner: PAK Cricketers Suspected To Be Unfit During T20 World Cup Selection - Report

The medical panel of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) suspects that senior players, Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman, might not have been 100 percent fit when they were picked in the T20 World Cup squad.

The same concerns were raised by senior selector, Aaqib Javed, at a media conference last week and he said the board would investigate the matter.

A source close to the board said that Dr Javed Mughal, a UK-based consultant on sports physiotherapy and medicine, who joined the PCB medical panel as director of sports exercise and medicine in January, has expressed his concerns after examining Babar and Fakhar after the World Cup.

The matter came to light when Babar refused to play in the National T20 Championship after returning from the World Cup, citing hamstring irritation, while Fakhar dealt with similar issues.

"When Babar was examined his injury turned out to be more serious than initially diagnosed while Fakhar also has been struggling with the same problem for months now," the source said.

He said the national selection committee made it clear to the medical panel that they picked Babar and Fakhar in the World Cup squad after getting clearance from the Pakistan team physiotherapist, Cliffe Deacon.

Allegations suggest that Deacon has previously allowed players with niggling injuries to play because of his close relationship with them.

Babar is now rehabilitating at the national cricket academy under the supervision of the medical panel and is expected to be cleared to play in the Pakistan Super League in which he will captain Pehsawar Zalmi. The PSL starts from March 26.

Fakhar recently appeared in a National T20 Cup match, and on Tuesday posted on social media that while he was not fully fit for the 50-over series in Bangladesh, he has now recovered to play in the T20 event.

Both players were sidelined for the Bangladesh tour, in which Pakistan lost the series 1-2, but now sources close to the selectors have confirmed that, even before the injury issues came out, they had decided to drop Babar because of poor form in the World Cup.