Islamabad, Dec 29: Fakhar Zaman, Pakistan cricket team’s opening batsman, has been conferred upon the rank of honorary lieutenant in Pakistan Navy in recognition of his achievements in cricket arena.

“In order to honour the achievements in cricket arena and association with Pakistan Navy, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Amjad Khan Niazi conferred renowned cricketer Fakhar Zaman the rank of Honorary Lieutenant in Pakistan Navy,” an official statement issued by PN said on Monday.

A special epaulette award ceremony was held at Naval Headquarters in Islamabad to mark the event.

Fakhar Zaman is a former Pakistan Navy serviceman who joined the country’s armed forces in 2007 as sailor in Operations Branch.

During early years in service, his excellent cricket talent was spotted and he represented Pakistan Navy in many tournaments, the official statement added.

His performance in the game remained exceptional and he earned numerous laurels for Pakistan Navy.

Fakhar’s international debut in cricket was in 2012 while he was serving in Pakistan Navy and participated in International Defence Cricket Challenge Cup 2012 held at Australia and was declared Best Player of the tournament.

“His cricketing skills were recognised and he was rewarded with Sanad-e-Tahseen by Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC),” the communique said.

Pakistan Navy, the statement said, observed profound cricket skills and extraordinary talent of Fakhar and graciously provided him the opportunity to continue his career in cricket and join Pakistan National Cricket squad.

During the course of time, his major achievements in cricket field include match winning century against India in final of ICC Champions Trophy in 2017, in which he was declared as “Man of the Match”. Besides, he had scored 1,000 fastest runs in just 18 ODI matches in 2018.

He became first Pakistani player to score double century in One-Day International (ODI) match and had record opening partnership of 304 runs during 2018.

Fakhar made the world record by scoring 512 runs in five consecutive ODI series. In national T-20 tournament 2020, he was declared Best Player and Batsman.

Earlier, Naval chief Admiral Niazi in his address congratulated Honorary Lieutenant Fakhar for his remarkable achievements for Pakistan in the field of cricket.

He underscored that Pakistan Navy has been supporting various sports including squash, sailing, hockey, football, etc and has produced number of professional players that represented Pakistan and earned laurels for the country.

He highlighted that Pakistan Navy will continue patronage the sports culture at both national and international level.

The epaulette award ceremony was attended by civil, military and dignitaries from PCB. Besides, former cricketers and family members of Fakhar attended the event. (Express tribune)