Pakistan suffered a huge blow before the virtual knockout match against Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup when two of the team’s key fast bowlers Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf were ruled out of the all-important match of the tournament. The Green Army felt the void as they were knocked out of the Asia Cup after losing a last-ball finish against Sri Lanka.
On being asked about Naseem and Rauf’s injury and change in the team’s plan in the absence of the fast bowlers the Pakistani captain hinted that Naseem might miss initial matches in the World Cup while he was confident of Rauf’s availability for the mega event in India.
Captain’s Corner
In the words of Babar “I’ll tell you later,” he said. “Not telling you our Plan B now. But yes, Haris Rauf is not bad. He’s just got a little bit of a side strain, but he’s recovering before the World Cup. Naseem Shah also… they have a couple of missed matches, I don’t know [how long] the recovery [is], but in my opinion, Naseem Shah also [will be] in the World Cup later on. But let’s see.”
The Injuries
Haris Rauf did not bowl on the reserve day in the Super Four clash against India following his injury and Naseem Shah was not able to complete his full quota of overs after sustaining an injury to his right shoulder and immediately went out of the playing field. The PCB has not yet detailed how severe the nature of Naseem’s injury is. He is currently in Dubai undergoing scans for the same.
Pakistan added the fast bowling duo of Zaman Khan and Shahnawaz Dahani as backups for Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf. While the former was ruled out of the tournament the team management was still confident of Rauf’s availability if Pakistan made it to the final of the tournament but that did not happen as they lost to Sri Lanka on Thursday. Pakistan’s squad will return home from Sri Lanka on Friday via Dubai and will look to make a strong comeback in the World Cup in India
