Shaheen Afridi injured himself in T20 World Cup final© AFP
Pakistani pacesetter Shaheen Afridi is unlikely to be available for the Test series against England and New Zealand until December-January after injuring his right knee during the ICC T20 World Cup Final against England on Sunday. According to ESPNCricinfo, the Pakistani side is facing a new phase where Shaheen will be out of the game for a significant amount of time. An official diagnosis is not expected until after the Pakistani team has returned home.
Afridi would in any case be on the bench from next month during the England Test series. That was part of his gradual return from the original knee injury sustained during a series against Sri Lanka in July.
In the time before the T20 World Cup, Shaheen completed his rehabilitation and became part of the Pakistan squad for the tournament. While he struggled in the first two games, he later started to regain his rhythm and played a vital role in his team’s journey to the final. With a total of 11 wickets, he was Pakistan’s joint highest wicket-taker in the tournament.
The injury resurfaced during the 13th over of England’s pursuit, as he took a running catch to fire batter Harry Brook. He was helped off the field by the physio and the doctor. Shaheen returned and tried to bowl the rest of his spell, but was unable to continue after bowling one ball. He could only bowl 2.1 overs of his four overs.
His right knee is currently believed to be in a brace. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has indicated that it will take some time to properly assess the injury and provide more information. Shaheen will fly back home via Mumbai with the rest of the side on Monday.
Pacer Haris Rauf was able to get his first shot in red-ball cricket as a substitute for spearhead tempo.
PCB’s treatment of his injury has drawn huge criticism. After the series against Sri Lanka, he traveled with the side to the Netherlands in hopes of recovery, but the swelling worsened and he was announced to be out of action for four to six weeks. He also traveled to the UAE for Asian Cup and another attempt was made to get his rehab going. But the medical scans confirmed an injury in the posterior cruciate ligament. It was decided that he would travel to the UK for further rehabilitation and work with doctors on the PCB Medical panel. As a result, he missed the Asian Cup at home and seven games of the T20I series against England in September.
(This story was not edited by DailyExpertNews staff and was generated automatically from a syndicated feed.)
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