T20 World Cup 2024: Pakistan in a massive spot of bother as Imad Wasim suffers rib injury

Pakistan All-rounder Imad Wasim is reportedly under a major scare as he has felt an awkward and slight pain in his rib cage while batting at the nets. 

Imad Wasim was prepping up for the 4th and series-concluding match against England at the Kia Oval stadium in Surrey. Due to the right rib pain, Wasim did not feature in the game which Pakistan eventually lost by 7-wickets in what was a totally one-sided affair. With that loss, Babar Azam's side thwarted the series by 2-0 with the other 2 games getting washed out without a ball bowled. 

The Green Army will play their opening game of the World Cup on June 6th and they have to thank the ICC that it's the USA up first. But Pakistan can't still take the USA lightly as the hosts will enter the Group stages with full confidence after beating Bangladesh 2-1 in a 3-match T20I series.  

Pakistan medical team to thoroughly assess Imad Wasim's situation 

After mentioning the rib cage discomfort to the team management and coaching staff, Imad Wasim was taken off from practice immediately. He was then made unavailable for the 4th T20I in the Oval with Usman Khan filling up in the absence of Wasim. The left-hand batter and off-spinner made his return to the National side back in April after coming out of retirement this year. 

Imad Wasim had a very good performance in this year's Pakistan Super League. Wasim was a key player in the Islamabad United side which eventually won its 2nd PSL title under the captaincy of Shadab Khan. Islamabad had defeated Mohammad Rizwan's Multan Sultans in the final by 2 wickets. 

Half of the reason behind United's victory in Karachi on March 18th was Imad Wasim, who became man of the match in the final for his all-round performance. With the ball, Wasim had scalped a sensational 5-wicket haul by maintaining an economy rate of 5.75 per over. 

His efforts restricted Sultans for 159. In response, Islamabad found it difficult to chase down the total and once again it was Imad Wasim who came to the rescue. He scored 19 off 17 including the winning runs of the match. Those performances handed him a call back to the Pakistani team for a subsequent home T20I series against New Zealand. 

Wasim has not been able to replicate such performances in the 6 games he has played since returning to the International circuit. And after his injury scare yesterday, the Pakistani medical team is looking after the extent of the issue with his rib cage. The All-rounder has also been advised to take as much rest as possible so that he can recover well in time for the T20 World Cup.

Pakistan's T20 World Cup schedule