Pakistan suffered a huge blow on Saturday as premier pacer Shaheen Afridi has been ruled out of the upcoming Asia Cup 2022 after sustaining an injury to the right knee ligament. Afridi is ruled out for about 4-6 weeks by the medical team of Pakistan Cricket Board.
The premier pacer suffered the injury last month while fielding during the first Test match against Sri Lanka in Galle. He is expected to return to competitive cricket ahead of the crucial New Zealand T20I tri-series and the mega ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia.
The medical team has stated that the pacer has made some progress during the rehabilitation programme but still is not fully fit to participate in Asia Cup.
“I have spoken with Shaheen and he is understandably upset with the news, but he is brave young man who has vowed to come back strongly to serve his country and team. Although he has made progress during his rehabilitation in Rotterdam, it is now clear he will require more time and is likely to return to competitive cricket in October,” PCB Chief Medical Officer Dr Najeebullah Soomro said.
“PCB’s Sports & Exercise Medicine Department will be working closely with the player over the coming weeks to ensure his safe return to competitive cricket,” PCB said in a statement.
Pakistan will start their Asia Cup campaign against arch-rivals India on August 28 in Dubai. The last time when these two teams faced each other, Shaheen ran riot with the ball by dismissing Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli in the group stage match of 2021 T20 World Cup as Pakistan won it by 10 wickets.
