Naseem Shah has been ruled out of the remainder of Asia Cup 2023 and Zaman Khan has been named as his replacement.

In an unfortunate couple of days in Colombo, Pakistan not only lost their Super Fours encounter against India by a record margin of 228 runs, but they were also struck by injuries to two of their premier fast bowlers Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf.

Rauf was ruled out of bowling in the match against India on the reserve day after complaining of discomfort in his “right flank” on September 10. He had bowled five overs for 27 runs on the first day before rain suspended play and pushed the match into the reserve day.

Naseem, on the other hand, was into his tenth over in the 49th over of India’s innings on the reserve day when he walked off the field with an injury to his right shoulder.

While Rauf hasn’t been officially ruled out of the Asia Cup, Naseem has. Zaman has replaced Naseem in the main squad while Dahani has been kept as a backup in case Rauf is ruled out as well.

Earlier, PCB had released a statement saying that this was just a precautionary measure: “This is only a precautionary measure keeping in mind the fitness and well-being of the players ahead of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup next month. Haris and Naseem will continue to remain under the observation of the team’s medical panel. The team management will only request replacement from the ACC technical committee if Naseem or Haris are ruled out for the next seven days.”

However, Naseem has now been officially ruled out with Zaman replacing him in the squad. Both Dahani and Zaman are inexperienced at the ODI level. Dahani has played just two ODIs while Zaman is yet to make his debut in the format.

Pakistan’s next match in the Asia Cup, their last of the Super Fours stage, is against Sri Lanka on September 14.

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