KARACHI: Dashing opener Fakhar Zaman is expected to be included in the central contracts and also get a call-up to the national white-ball squad as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to let him off with a reprimand for his breach of the players’ code of conduct, the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency reported on Wednesday.

A PCB source told the PTI that a committee would be formed soon to look into the reply sent by the left-hander to the show-cause notice to him over his tweet on former skipper Babar Azam.

In the show-cause notice, the PCB asked Fakhar to submit a reply or face disciplinary action.

The opener was then dropped from the 2024-25 central contracts list and was also ignored for the white-ball series in Australia and Zimbabwe last week.

“Fakhar’s reply [to the PCB show-cause notice] is apologetic and he has expressed remorse. Internal discussions between PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi, selectors and new captain Mohammad Rizwan bode well for Fakhar,” the source said.

He said the selectors had however told Fakhar to focus on rehabilitating and getting over his knee problem before the white-ball series in South Africa during December.

“He is most likely to be first included in the squad for the South Africa white-ball matches and will then be added to the [PCB] central contracts list,” the source added.

“Rizwan and the selectors agreed that Fakhar was still required for the white-ball squad especially with the ICC Champions Trophy tournament being held in Pakistan early next year,” the source further said.

“The consensus is that first a committee would accept Fakhar’s reply to the show-cause notice and he will be cleared for selection and he will undergo a fitness test before the South Africa tour selection.”

Published in Dawn, October 31st, 2024