Haris Sohail likely to miss ODI series against England due to injury

Pakistan batsman Haris Sohail is likely to miss the three-match One-Day International (ODI) series against England, starting Thursday (July 8). Sohail, who missed several training sessions and both the intra-squad matches in Derbyshire, complained of a leg injury and will undergo an MRI scan as a result. "He has a leg injury and is unlikely to take part in the first ODI and could even miss out on the remaining two matches," a PCB source said.

In Sohail's absence, Pakistan are likely to hand debuts to top-order batsman Abdullah Shafique or batting all-rounders Saud Shakil and Agha Salman. One of the spots in the middle-order is expected to be filled by Sohaib Maqsood, who last played for Pakistan in 2016. Sohail had previously returned home from tours to South Africa and New Zealand due to fitness issues and skipped the tour to England last year due to the COVID-19 restrictions.

He had suffered a back injury during the tour of South Africa in early 2019. Sohail has not been named in the T20 International (T20I) series, which will follow the ODI series. The southpaw has played 42 ODIs for Pakistan, the last of which came in October 2020 against Zimbabwe.

As seven members of the England players and coaching staff tested positive for Covid-19, the ECB named a revamped squad for the ODIs with Ben Stokes named captain. The squad that played Sri Lanka in three T20Is and as many ODIs have been out in isolation.

(With inputs from PTI)