Published: Nov 02, 2022, 12:58 PM (IST)
Edited: Nov 02, 2022, 01:01 PM (IST)
Perth: Pakistan came into the T20 World Cup with great expectations. With a fearsome pace bowling at their disposal, they were among the top contenders to win the tournament. However, things didn’t go their way as they suffered a defeat against India in their opening game. They were then humiliated by Zimbabwe by 1 run in their second game. Pakistan defeated the Netherlands in their previous game to keep their hopes alive.
While their chances of qualifying for the semis are grim, they are technically not out of the tournament and if some results go their way, there may be some surprises in store for them. Pakistan will next take on South Africa on November 3 in a must win game. Ahead of the game, they have been dealt with an injury blow as Fakhar Zaman has been ruled out of SA clash due to knee injury. Fakhar hasn’t played a single game for Pakistan in the tournament.
“We know that Fakhar had a knee injury in Asia Cup about 7 weeks ago, he has been incredibly brave, resilient and has worked really hard to come back into the team, he had extensive rehabilitation and after which he made his way back into the team,” PCB’s medical chief and Pakistan’s team doctor, Najeeb Soomro said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
“Obviously with any knee injury, it takes time for it to recover 100%. Fakhar and the team understood the risks coming into the tournament and we got him into the tournament. You saw how he performed in the last match. Unfortunately, he had a bit of twist which aggravated his injury. We have had scans on him which have shown no new injury. However, he doesn’t feel 100%,” he added.
The question now arises that if Fakhar was injured, why Pakistan added him in the squad at first place. Dr. Najeeb informed that that since Fakhar is an important part of the team, the PCB took risk with him.
“We knew the risks for his return. Obviously, he is an important player for the team, the medical staff, the player and team management were aware of that and we decided to bring him back, in any sport you take risks, sometimes the risks pay off, sometimes they don’t. He was extremely brave and we worked hard to bring him back in, it is unfortunate that sometimes you have a bit of a reaction to something,” the doctor said.
