Injured Shahid Afridi out of first two T20s against Australia

By Osama Tariq

DUBAI (TheSportsNext) September 5, 2012: Former Pakistani captain Shahid Khan Afridi will not play the first two matches of the three-match Twenty20 International series against Australia after precariously injuring his thumb during nets.

 

Shahid Afridi was a doubt for Pakistan in the final One Day International but the all-rounder insisted in playing the match and in the end proved burden on the team as he managed only seven runs besides giving away 62 runs from his 10 overs.

He completely looked out of sorts during that final ODI where he kept shielding his left hand while bowling or fielding which in the end cost Pakistan the match and the series.

Pakistan’s team manager Colonel Naveed Akram Cheema told reporters here on Tuesday, "You must have witnessed it yesterday -- Shahid had a thumb injury, where his left thumb was wounded quite badly, the skin tore off and blood was oozing quite profusely”.

As per the sources, the doctors have advised Shahid Afridi to rest for five days which means he will be missing the first two Twenty20Is of the series.

Team manager stated, "He's received about two stitches. The doctors intend to examine the intensity of the wound (and) how far can it be healed. We haven't taken a decision yet (on whether he will be fit for the first match on Wednesday)."

The series has been dubbed as the preparations for the upcoming ICC World Twenty20 2012 event in Sri Lanka and both Australia and Pakistan would be looking to come up with their final touches to their preparations.

However, Shahid Afridi’s injury can be a huge blow for Pakistan as the all-rounder has the highest number of scalps in the shortest format, i.e. 58. Second and third in the list are from Pakistan as well. Fast bowler Umar Gul, who is part of the T20 squad, has 55 wickets to his name while orthodox off-spinner Saeed Ajmal has captured 54 victims in the T20 format thus far.

Pakistan’s T20 captain Mohammed Hafeez showed confidence in abilities of his wicket-takers as he told reporters here that his team’s focus was to play as a unit rather than relying on individual performances.

Australia have further revved up their fast bowling attack by including 19-year-old pacer Patrick Cummins and their T20 skipper George Bailey told reporters, "It's going to be particularly important, especially once we get to Sri Lanka (for the World Twenty20) to have that genuine out-and-out pace. It makes it hard for teams to settle, and there's no doubt that Patrick's got that express pace. He's well skilled with his changes of pace, his slower ball and his bumper, which is very good, and a very good yorker.