After arriving in Cardiff more than a week after signing for Glamorgan, Pakistani batsman Fakhar Zaman is looking forward to reacquainting himself with the Sophia Gardens ground where he has a number of memorable performances.
The 29-year-old left-hand opening batsman arrives in Cardiff on the back of two top-scoring performances elsewhere in the World Cup, with knocks of 62 against India and 44 against South Africa. His last appearance at Cardiff came in May in a one-off IT20 match.
After a conversation with Pakistan national coach Mickey Arthur, he was convinced that a return to Cardiff with Glamorgan was the right move.
“I had a call from my agent after the World Cup, who said that Glamorgan wanted to sign me,” he said.
“Mickey Arthur also spoke to me about it, and I said that I would love to play for Glamorgan. I signed without any hesitation.
“I don’t know much about Cardiff, but I played a few matches here in the Champions Trophy in 2017, so I have good memories at this ground.”
In those two matches, he scored 50 against Sri Lanka and followed it up with 57 against England in the semi-final.
“Glamorgan is a very historic county, and I have so many good memories of playing at the Cardiff ground,” he said.
“County cricket is so different from other leagues. There’s so much history in it, so I like it.”
Fakhar initially signed for Glamorgan’s first eight matches in the Vitality Blast but visa issues have seen him miss the first two matches, the defeat to Somerset in Cardiff and a no result against Gloucestershire at Cheltenham.
Now that he has arrived, he says he is looking forward to getting started.
“I’m very happy to be part of Glamorgan County Cricket Club,” he said.
“I was looking to play county cricket and I got this opportunity, and I would like to make it memorable. I was having visa problems, but thanks to PCB [Pakistan Cricket Board], they helped me out to get my visa quickly. Now I’m here and I’m looking forward to it.”
Fakhar has been named in the squad for the match against Surrey on Thursday (July 25) at The Kia Oval, where the Welsh county have an impressive record in T20 cricket, with six wins and a no result in their previous seven matches there, including a run of five victories on the bounce.
A day later, he is expected to make his home debut at Cardiff against Middlesex. Despite the first two results in this season’s competition, he says that Glamorgan’s record at the Oval is cause for optimism.
“I’ve been following Glamorgan and they’re playing good cricket, so everybody is confident that we’ll be good and win the game,” he said.
“I will obviously bat in the top order, but I haven’t spoken to anybody yet because I only arrived in the morning.
“First of all, we’re focussing on the Surrey game and yes, of course, we’re also planning for the Middlesex game. Hopefully it will go very well for us.”
Fakhar will wear shirt number 39, which he chose himself on arrival in Cardiff.
“I was in the Navy in Pakistan in 2007, and my room number was 39,” he said. “I received three or four numbers and was told I should choose one of them, so that’s the number I chose.”
Written on behalf of the ECB Reporter's Network by Alun Rhys-Chivers