Fakhar Zaman is one of those cricketers who has had to work hard to make his way into the Pakistani side and is certainly not one who has come out of favouritism which has plagued the Pakistan cricket team for a long time.
At the age of 16, Fakhar joined the Pakistani Navy in May 2007 under family pressure. However that didn't stop him, he continued his passion for cricket and represented the Pakistan Navy in domestic matches. However not until 2013, he started playing cricket professionally. The rest is history.
The start to his professional cricket wasn't as glorious and it wasn't until 2016 he starred in some domestic tournaments and caught the eye of the selectors. As a result he was grafted into the PSL side Lahore Qalandars under Brendon McCullum. Despite Lahore disappointing hugely, Fakhar showed glimpses of his striking prowess.
His international debut came against West Indies and things didn't go as he'd have wanted. However that was just a minor blip for Fakhar. Bigger and better things were yet to come.
Selected for the champions trophy, Fakhar didn't play the 1st match against arch rivals India where Pakistan were thrashed. There was no question about his strokeplay, however there were talks if had the temperament to play 50 over cricket. In his first ODI he scored a quickfire 31 against South Africa and could not capitalise on the start. But Pakistan needed stability, someone who could score hundreds at the top order. However, Fakhar started to gain momentum and confidence scoring 2 half-centuries in as many matches playing his part in those all important matches.
The grit and determination was there, Fakhar looked like he belonged in International cricket. However his real test was yet to come, the final against India. With Pakistan's poor record against India, nobody gave them a chance. But Pakistan had a trick up their sleeve which was none other than Fakhar Zaman.
The stage was set for Fakhar and he didn't disappoint. Scoring a magnificent century he put all the critics to rest Pakistan were in the driving seat that too against India in an ICC event. Pakistan eventually won the match easily and claimed the Champions trophy. With just 4 matches under his belt, Fakhar became a darling for Pakistan. Despite what he does in future, Fakhar will look down at this inning and count it among his best.
Since then, Fakhar has played consistently well and has become a regular fit Pakistans limited overs sides. He's improved his game quite a bit since then and has shown different dimensions to his game.
He's now become the first Pakistani to score an ODI double hundred and fastest cricketer to score 1000 runs in ODIs beating greats like Richards and KP by some distance.
Fakhars rise is a heartening victory to every young Pakistani cricketer who aspires to play for Pakistan. And he will surely inspire many other success stories in Pakistan.