Pakistan hopes of winning their third Asia Cup title took a massive hit days before the start of the continental tournament with pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi getting ruled out due to fitness issues.
The Pakistan pace spearhead, who was a key performer for the Men in Green in last year’s T20 World Cup, especially against India, has been ruled out for a period of four to six weeks due to a knee ligament injury and will also sit out of the home T20I series against England besides the Asia Cup that begins on 27 August.
The news has understandably upset fans and well-wishers of the Pakistan team with some former cricketers even going to the extent of taking potshots at the Rohit Sharma-led Indian team following the development.
Also Read: Afridi missing Asia Cup 2022 a big relief for Indian top order, says Waqar
And it’s not just fans and former cricketers who are upset; Afridi too appeared crestfallen in a video doing the rounds on social media.
In a video shared by a fan on YouTube, the left-arm pacer can be seen obliging fan requests for pictures and selfies in Netherlands, where Pakistan are currently playing a three-match ODI series that concludes on Sunday.
And Afridi, who has also been ruled out of the Netherlands one-dayers, can be heard saying “Yaar, bas kya karein. Dua hai ” to which the fan replies “bada dukh hua“.
Afridi had decimated the Indian top-order the last time he was up against the Men in Blue, which was in the group stage clash in Dubai in the T20 World Cup last year and was widely expected to pose a similar challenge to the defending Asia Cup champions India this time around as well.
In Afridi’s absence, Haris Rauf — another bowler who did well in the T20 World Cup — is likely to lead the attack comprising Naseem Shah, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Shahnawaz Dahani among others.
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