Khurram Shahzad has been ruled out of the rest of the Australia-Pakistan Test series, which includes two Test matches, with an injury.
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Pakistan had come for the three-match Benaud-Qadir Trophy without Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf. Naseem had undergone a surgery, while Rauf had pulled out. Ahead of the first Test match, at the Perth Stadium, leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed was ruled out as well.
Pakistan fielded three specialist seamers – Faheem Ashraf and debutants Aamer Jamal and Khurram Shahzad – along with spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi, who was not at his fastest. Part-time off-spinner Salman Ali Agha was the only slow bowler of the attack.
First Test of Benaud-Qadir Trophy
Khurram Shahzad and Aamir Jamal received their Test caps from Shaeen Afridi and Hassan Ali. Via @TheRealPCBMedia pic.twitter.com/ubTk1P6tBh
— AmerCric 🏏 ✍️ (@Amermalik12) December 14, 2023
Jamal (7-139 in the Test match) and Shahzad (5-128) did reasonably well, but but Australia still won by 360 runs inside four days to stretch their streak of home Test match wins against Pakistan at home to 15.
During the Perth Test match, Shahzad had “complained of discomfort in the left side”, and went for a subsequent MRI scan. His participation at the Boxing Day Test match, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, was uncertain.
Shahzad will also miss the third Test
Shahzad will now miss not only the second Test at Melbourne but also the third and last match at Sydney due to “a stress fracture in his left 10th rib, as well as an abdominal muscle tear”.
The PCB will consult with a specialist in Australia, following which “a final management protocol will be established” for Shahzad, who will then return to the NCA in Lahore for injury management and rehabilitation.
Head coach Mohammad Hafeez had already informed that left-arm spinner Noman Ali has suffered a finger injury, while there is no update on Abrar’s availability either.
All that leaves Pakistan with three potential replacements for Shahzad – off-spinner Sajid Khan, whom they had flown out as Abrar’s cover, and fast bowlers Hassan Ali and Mohammad Wasim Jr.
Pakistan play a two-day match against a Victorian XI at the Junction Oval from December 22, followed by the Test matches at Melbourne (from December 26) and Sydney (from January 3).
