Naseem Shah likely to miss Pakistan’s initial matches in ICC Cricket World Cup

Colombo [Sri Lanka], September 15 (ANI): Following his side’s two-wicket loss to Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam hinted that pacer Naseem Shah might miss a few matches during the ICC Cricket World Cup in India from October 5 onwards, as he continues to recover from a shoulder injury. 

After the match, Babar expressed his uncertainty about Naseem’s recovery. But there is more confidence about Haris Rauf, another star pacer’s recovery for the start of the World Cup. Rauf is dealing with a side strain. 

“I will tell you later (on backup plans),” he said as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.

“Not telling you our Plan B now. But yes, Haris Rauf is not bad. He has just got a little bit of a side strain, but he is recovering before the World Cup. Naseem Shah also… they have a couple of missed matches, I do not know [how long] the recovery [is], but in my opinion, Naseem Shah also [will be] in the World Cup later on. But let us see,” he added. 

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has not detailed how severe Naseem’s injury is. The bowler is undergoing scans in Dubai for a muscle injury below his right shoulder that he sustained while bowling against India on Monday. He was off the field during the middle of his over and later ruled out of the competition. Rauf also did not bowl after five overs due to his side strain and Pakistan rested him against SL as a precautionary measure ahead of the World Cup. 

Naseem, aged 20, has had many injury issues in the early stages of his career. A back injury at 17, just one year into international cricket, kept him out for 14 months. Six weeks after his return, another shoulder injury in the County Championship sidelined him for a month. 

In the past 18 months, his workload has increased a lot. He has went from a red-ball player to an all-format bowler. His potency as an ODI bowler is high, having taken 32 wickets in just 14 games at an average of under 17. 

In the absence of Rauf and Naseem, Pakistan fielded bowlers Mohammad Wasim Jnr and Zaman Khan against Sri Lanka in a must-win match. 

Pakistan’s squad will make their return from Sri Lanka on Friday via Dubai.

Opting to bat first, Pakistan lost Fakhar Zaman early in the 42-over-per-side match. But a 64-run stand for the second wicket between Abdullah Shafique (52 in 69 balls, with three fours and two sixes) and skipper Babar Azam (29 in 35 balls with three fours) put Pakistan back on track. Pakistan was rocked once again with some quick wickets before Mohammed Rizwan (86 in 73 balls with six fours and two sixes) and Iftikhar Ahmed (47 in 40 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) helped Pakistan reached a competitive score of 252/8 in 42 overs. 

Matheesha Pathirana (3/65) and Pramod Madushan (2/58) were impressive with the ball for Lanka.

In the chase of 253, contributions from the top order like Pathum Nissanka (29 in 44 balls with four boundaries), Kusal Mendis (91 in 87 balls with eight fours and a six), Sadeera Samarawickrama (48 in 51 balls with four boundaries) kept SL in contention until the game got tense in final few overs. However, Charith Asalanka (49* in 47 balls with three fours and a six) made sure SL finished on the winning side in a last-ball thriller.  

Iftikhar Ahmed (3/50) and Shaheen Afridi (2/52) were the pick of the bowlers for Pakistan, however, they failed to win the game for the team. 

Kusal took home the ‘Player of the Match’ award for his knock that helped SL set up the title clash with India on September 17 in Colombo.