ICC Cricket World Cup 2019: Afghanistan opener Mohammad Shahzad to miss rest of tournament due to knee injury

London: Afghanistan opener Mohammad Shahzad will miss the rest of the World Cup after suffering a knee injury, tournament organisers revealed on Thursday.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Shahzad will be replaced by Ikram Ali Khil in a blow to the World Cup minnows, who have lost their opening two matches.

The 32-year-old scored just seven runs against Australia and Sri Lanka before the injury curtailed his tournament.

“The ICC has approved Ikram Ali Khil as a replacement player for Mohammad Shahzad in the Afghanistan squad for the remainder of the tournament,” an ICC statement said.

“Wicketkeeper Shahzad has suffered a knee injury which has ruled him out of further participation in the event.”

Shahzad had retired hurt after suffering a knee injury in Afghanistan’s World Cup warm-up fixture against Pakistan.

While he featured in their opening games against Australia and Sri Lanka, the aggravated injury has ruled him out of the rest of the competition.

Since the 2015 World Cup, Shahzad has been Afghanistan’s second highest run-scorer in one-day internationals with 1843 runs in 55 innings.