A couple of days ago, Pakistani opener Fakhar Zaman credited Mickey Arthur for showing belief that he could score a double century ODI against Zimbabwe. In the 4th ODI, Zaman played an unbeaten knock of 210 in a 244-run victory in the fourth ODI on Friday – a feat that saw him become the first Pakistan batsman to surpass the individual score of 200, eclipsing Saeed Anwar’s 194-run knock more than 20 years ago.

Zaman was also involved in a 304-run opening partnership with Imam-ul-Haq which is now the highest opening partnership in ODI cricket. And Zaman revealed that it was the words from head coach Arthur that inspired him to make history.

Taking about his knock, Fakhar said, “Thanks to almighty. Imam played really well at the start and he supported me well. I knew about Saeed’s record as well. Mickey [Arthur] told us before the toss that if we win the toss we are going to bat and he asked me to score a double ton. He was telling me the same thing two days ago as well. Imam is playing really well and he keeps talking to me whenever I feel uncomfortable and it’s great as we play (together) in domestic cricket.”

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Zaman, who is just 20 runs short of becoming the quickest to 1000 ODI runs, said he was feeling tired at the crease but has warned Zimbabwe he plans to carry on his good form in the fifth and final ODI on Sunday.

Pakistan’s skipper Sarfraz Ahmed lauded Zaman and Imam for their fantastic start to the innings.

Sarfraz said, “That’s what we need when batting first. Imam and Fakhar gave us a solid platform. It’s good that our top order batsmen are getting runs. When we go to the field, our target was to bowl them under 160 and we executed our plans. We will try our level best to win the next game.”