Senior Pakistan batters Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman may not have been fully fit when they were picked for the T20 World Cup 2026, according to a source close to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

The concern was first raised by senior selector Aaqib Javed during a press conference in Lahore last week.

Addressing the media alongside fellow selectors Misbah-ul-Haq, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Asad Shafique, Aaqib said the selection committee had requested the PCB to investigate how both players picked up injuries and why the issue only came to light after the tournament.

The source said concerns were flagged by Dr Javed Mughal, the UK-based sports physiotherapy and medicine expert who joined the PCB medical panel as director of sports exercise and medicine in January 2026, after he assessed Babar and Fakhar's fitness following the T20 World Cup.

The matter reportedly emerged when Babar pulled out of the National T20 Cup after returning from the global showpiece, citing hamstring irritation, with Fakhar also understood to be battling similar fitness issues.

"When Babar was examined his injury turned out to be more serious than initially diagnosed while Fakhar also has been struggling with the same problem for months now," the source said, as quoted by PTI.

He further said the national selection committee made it clear to the medical panel that they included Babar and Fakhar in the World Cup squad after getting clearance from the team physiotherapist Cliffe Deacon, who has faced allegations in the past of allowing players with minor injuries to take the field because of his close relationship with them.

Babar is currently undergoing rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy and is likely to regain fitness in time for the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2026, slated to get underway on March 26.

On the other hand, Fakhar said he has fully recovered and is available for the National T20 Cup. Both players missed the recently held ODI series in Bangladesh, which Pakistan lost 1-2.

Meanwhile, sources close to the selectors have confirmed that, even before the injury issues came out, they had decided to axe Babar because of poor form in the World Cup.

(With PTI Inputs)