Shaheen Afridi ruled out of Asia Cup with knee ligament injury

Rotterdam: Shaheen Afridi has been ruled out of the Asia Cup and Pakistan’s home T20I series against England due to a knee ligament injury. He is expected to return to action in October with the tri-series in New Zealand which also features Bangladesh.

The seamer has been advised rest for 4-6 weeks by the Pakistan Cricket Board Medical Advisory Committee and independent specialists.

PCB haven’t named his replacement for the Asia Cup that gets underway on 27 August with Pakistan facing India on 28 August.

“I have spoken with Shaheen and he is understandably upset with the news, but he is brave young man who has vowed to come back strongly to serve his country and team. Although he has made progress during his rehabilitation in Rotterdam, it is now clear he will require more time and is likely to return to competitive cricket in October," said PCB Chief Medical Officer in a release.

The 22-year-old left-arm pacer has played 97 matches across all three formats since his international debut four years ago.

“We’re taking a couple of doctors with us to take care of Shaheen and want him to play a game against Netherlands to see if he’s fit and ready for the Asia Cup,” said Pakistan skipper Babar Azam ahead of the series against Netherlands.

Afridi picked up the injury against Sri Lanka and has expectedly featured in neither of the two ODI matches played in Rotterdam.

The seamer will stay with the squad in Netherlands to complete his rehabilitation process.

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