LAHORE
Pakistan’s pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi is expected to be available for the national side’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup opener against arch-rivals India on Oct 23.
Shaheen injured his knee during Pakistan’s tour of Sri Lanka in July and was ruled out of the ongoing Asia Cup T20 despite being named in the preliminary squad.
The left-armer travelled to the Netherlands with the team for the three-match One-day International series against the hosts and to the United Arab Emirates for the Asia Cup.
Although the Pakistan Cricket Board had claimed before the Netherlands series that Shaheen would continue his rehabilitation while accompanying the national squad, he was sent to London for what the board’s chief medical officer Najeebullah Soomro termed as “uninterrupted, dedicated knee specialist care”.
The step raised questions if the PCB realised the seriousness of the injury in its early stages.
The belief at the board’s higher offices is that Shaheen will be available by the start of the T20 showpiece in Australia.
“The PCB medical team has been receiving daily reports over the knee injury status of Shaheen and we expect the bowler will be there with the national team to play against India on October 23 in the World Cup match,” PCB’s chief executive officer Faisal Hasnain told Dawn on Thursday.
“From Sri Lanka to London, the PCB has been following the advice of the medical team and if they advise Shaheen to have treatment in the US then the PCB will follow that too.”
Faisal said the decision to keep Shaheen with the team for the Netherlands tour and the Asia Cup was taken to have the PCB’s medical experts at the bowler’s disposal in person.
“We are receiving good reports from London on Shaheen’s recovery and the decision to keep the bowler with the national team was taken because our best medical experts were travelling with the team so he (Shaheen) could get every possible help on time,” said the PCB CEO. “Shaheen is our national asset and one of the top world class bowlers.”
Pakistan is scheduled to host the 2023 Asia Cup and the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy but there are questions over the preparedness of the national stadia, which have not hosted international tournaments since the 2008 Asia Cup.
Faisal, who joined the PCB in December last year, admitted that the venues were far from ready to accommodate big international events. The 62-year-old said the PCB had to align their stadia according to the standards set by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
