Lahore: Pakistan opener Faqar Zaman has revealed that he lost 15 kg due to an undiagnosed thyroid disease.
Former Pakistan captain Salman Bhatt in an interview recently PCB’s Straight Drive In the podcast, Faqar revealed that he initially mistook his poor physical condition for international cricket and continued to play despite the warning signs.
“When you play regular cricket, little nickels are part of the game, but I was suffering from a real disease that I didn’t know about initially – I developed thyroid disease,” Faqar said.
“Due to that, I lost about 15 kg. I kept playing because I didn’t know, players didn’t give up easily. It affected my fitness badly and when I was finally confined to bed, I realized something was wrong and it was diagnosed,” he added.
The left-arm opener said he has now fully recovered from the illness and is back to full fitness after months of rehabilitation at the Pakistan Cricket Board’s National Cricket Academy (NCA).
“Alhamdulillah, I am fully fit now, the illness is cured and after that I even played in the World Cup, but during the World Cup, I picked up some more injuries that I had been carrying for a while.
“Thankfully, I have had some rest recently. I missed six ODIs—three against Australia and three against Bangladesh—but used those two to three months at the NCA to work hard on my fitness.
“Now that all my nickels are gone, I’m starting to play again.”
Faqar also explained that his decision to miss the recent ODI series was aimed at ensuring he returns at peak form rather than risk aggravating lingering injuries.
The experienced batsman insisted that his long-term focus is on the 2027 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup to be held in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia from October 4 to November 21.
“I’m not thinking too far ahead. Right now, my next target is the 2027 ODI World Cup – that’s what’s on my mind.
“All these recent matches that I have missed, I could have played if I wanted to, but I know that if these little glitches worsen, they can affect my main goal. That’s why I took this two-to-three-month break. My main goal right now is the ODI World Cup.”
The 35-year-old has been one of Pakistan’s most destructive white-ball batsmen since his international debut in 2013. He played 92 ODIs and scored 3,861 runs at an average of 45.42, including 10 centuries and 19 fifties, with 210 not out.
He announced himself on the world stage by scoring a match-winning century against India in the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy final, helping Pakistan clinch its maiden Champions Trophy title.
The left-hander has established himself as one of Pakistan’s leading ODI batsmen and is a key figure in the national team’s white-ball set-up, renowned for his aggressive stroke play and ability to dominate bowling attacks at the top of the order.