NEWS
Follow UsPakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have suffered a massive blow to their Asia Cup plans as pacer Naseem Shah has been ruled out of the tournament ahead of their Super Four encounter against Sri Lanka on Thursday. Naseem suffered a shoulder injury against India but continued to bowl after it emerged that Haris Rauf wasn’t fit to continue in the game.
Pakistan, who have Shaheen Shah Afridi to spearhead their bowling attack, have drafted in Zaman Khan as a replacement for the young pacer continues to be monitored by the team's medical panel that is taking all necessary precautions, keeping in mind the ODI World Cup in India next month. Pakistan had called up Shahnawaz Dahani and Zaman Khan as covers the moment the duo of Shah and Rauf faced a little discomfort.
However, in a piece of positive news, PCB have confirmed that Haris Rauf, who did not bowl on the reserve day of the Pakistan vs India contest as a precautionary measure, continues to recover well after he felt discomfort in his right flank on the first day of the match. In all likelihood, he will be returning to the playing XI for the Thursday encounter, which has now become a virtual semi-final following both team’s loss to India.
"These two fast bowlers are our assets and the team's medical panel will provide them the best possible care ahead of the all-important World Cup."
On Monday, when India got the better of Pakistan by 228 runs, Pakistan didn’t have either Naseem Shah or Haris Rauf to lend their services with the bat, though Shah had bowled earlier, conceding 79 runs for the wicket of Shubman Gill. After Jasprit Bumrah gave India a good start with the ball, Kuldeep Yadav ran through the batting order with a five-wicket haul.
