Pakistan’s defeat against England in the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 final has turned out to be a double-edged sword, wounding them as they did not only lose to lift the trophy but also lost the key pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi.
The frontline bowler of the Pakistani line-up suffered a knee injury during Galle Test in July. As a result, he missed out on the Netherlands series, Asia Cup 2022, and the home T20I series against England.
Although the bowler was sent to London for the rehabilitation process, it seems like he is not fully fit, which was apparent in the ICC T20 World Cup 202 journey for Pakistan.
Shaheen managed only a single wicket in the first three games. However, he bounced back stronger and compiled 11 wickets to become the joint-highest wicket-taker for Pakistan.
Everything was going okay in the final showdown until Afridi fell on his knee after taking a brilliant catch of Harry Brookes. The bowler could only deliver the first ball of the third over and had to walk off the field as the rest of the over was handed over to Iftikhar Ahmed.
Since his injury has got more worsened, it has been confirmed by close sources that the quick bowler will now miss the upcoming Test series against England and New Zealand that Pakistan are all set to host in the coming months.
Former chief medical officer of PCB, while talking to Dawn news, said that,
“If the injury doesn’t result in more injuries, it would take Shaheen three to four months to recover. If the PCB’s medical board chooses to treat it through surgery, Shaheen will be out for six or seven months. An inquiry should be held to determine if the PCB medical panel went wrong in their approach to treating Shaheen’s injury,”
It is pertinent to mention here that Afridi’s mate Haris Rauf is likely to make his test debut in place of injured Shaheen Shah Afridi.
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