ICC T20 World Cup 2022: Fakhar Zaman Ruled Out Of South Africa Encounter; Set To Miss The Rest Of The Tournament Due To Knee Injury

Fakhar Zaman, the Pakistani batter, is set to miss the remainder of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2022 owing to his knee injury issues after being ruled out from the Men in Green’s upcoming encounter against South Africa in Sydney on November 3^rd.

Pakistan, who have lost two out of their three matches in the Super 12s stage thus far, to Zimbabwe and India, need to win both of their remaining matches against South Africa and Bangladesh, to remain in contention for semi-final qualification. They also need the results of some of the other matches to go their way for this to happen.

Notably, Fakhar was in Pakistan’s T20 World Cup 2022 reserves along with Mohammad Haris and Shahnawaz Dahani but later replaced injured leg-spinner, Usman Qadir.

Fakhar was initially not picked in the 15-man squad due to a knee injury that ruled him out of the home series against England and the tri-series in New Zealand.

Fakhar Zaman And The Team Understood The Risks: Pakistan Team Doctor Najeebullah Soomro

Fakhar Zaman suffered a twist that aggravated his knee injury during Pakistan’s win over the Netherlands, team doctor Najeebullah Soomro said, according to ESPNCricinfo.

Fakhar had replaced Asif Ali in the playing XI, who was struggling to get going in the middle order. Fakhar’s inclusion boosted Pakistan’s batting unit but the left-handed batter will certainly be not available for their match against South Africa, Soomro has said.

“Obviously with any knee injury it takes time to have 100% recovery. Fakhar and the team understood the risks of coming into the tournament and we got him in. You saw how he performed with batting in the last match, unfortunately in the last match he had a bit of a twist which aggravated his injury.

We were aware of the risks of the comeback. He is obviously an important player for the team. The player, the medical staff and the team management were aware of that. We decided to bring him back in. In cricket, and any sport, we take risks. Sometimes they pay off, sometimes they don’t,” Pakistan Team Doctor Najeebullah Soomro told ESPNCricinfo.

Pakistan have the option of bringing back Asif Ali or drafting Mohammad Haris in the 15-man squad if Fakhar is ruled out of the remainder of the T20 World Cup 2022.

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