SYDNEY: Top order batter Fakhar Zaman has been ruled out of Pakistan’s upcoming T20 World Cup match against South Africa and his appearance in the remainder of the tournament also remains in doubt after his knee injury aggravated.
The Pakistan team doctor and PCB’s chief medical officer Dr Najeeb Soomro told the media in Sydney that the player and the management was aware of the risks of including him in the world cup squad.
“We know that Fakhar had a knee injury in Asia Cup about 7 weeks ago, he has been incredibly brave, resilient and has worked really hard to come back into the team, he had extensive rehabilitation and after which he made his way back into the team,” Dr Najeeb said.
“Obviously with any knee injury, it takes time for it to recover 100%. Fakhar and the team understood the risks coming into the tournament and we got him into the tournament. You saw how he performed in the last match. Unfortunately, he had a bit of twist which aggravated his injury. We have had scans on him which have shown no new injury. However, he doesn’t feel 100%,” the PCB’s chief medical officer said.
Dr Soomro added that Fakhar is currently in high spirits, doing well and the medical team was working with him.
When asked if Fakhar was rushed prematurely to the team for the tournament, the doctor said that PCB’s medical panel was monitoring the batter closely and he was doing well in all tests.
“We knew the risks for his return. Obviously, he is an important player for the team, the medical staff, the player and team management were aware of that and we decided to bring him back, in any sport you take risks, sometimes the risks pay off, sometimes they don’t. He was extremely brave and we worked hard to bring him back in, it is unfortunate that sometimes you have a bit of a reaction to something,” he said.
Meanwhile, the spokesman of team Pakistan confirmed that Fakhar will not be available for tomorrow’s match and the team management is seeing if a replacement is required.
