The story appears on

Page A15

March 18, 2015

GET this page in PDF

Free for subscribers

View shopping cart

Related News

Home » Sports » Cricket

Pakistan suffers bitter Irfan blow

GIANT Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Irfan was ruled out of the World Cup yesterday because of a stress fracture to his pelvis, an injury which captain Misbah-ul-Haq described as a “huge setback”.

The 32-year-old first felt the hip injury in the 129-run win over the United Arab Emirates two weeks ago when he bowled just three overs.

The fast bowler played in the crucial victory against South Africa, taking three wickets, before missing Sunday’s game against Ireland which Pakistan won to secure its place in the last eight.

The injury is a major blow to the 1992 champion’s chances of defeating four-time winner Australia in the quarterfinal at the Adelaide Oval on Friday.

“Irfan was one bowler who was different to all the others in the competition,” Misbah said. “It is a huge setback for us but we have to live with it.”

Irfan, at 2.16-meter, the tallest man to play international cricket, took eight wickets in the five matches he played at the World Cup.

His injury is the latest in a series of devastating setbacks suffered by Pakistan which has been stripped of an entire first-choice attack.

“It’s difficult because we lost two bowlers to suspension before the World Cup,” said Misbah of ace spinner Saeed Ajmal and all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez.

“We also lost two good quality pacemen — Umar Gul and Junaid Khan — also to injury. Now just when we have started to perform well this injury hits us badly.

“It’s a worrying sign for a captain but we have to find a way to handle this.”

Junaid was announced in the 15-man squad for the World Cup but injured his leg at a training camp and was replaced by Rahat Ali.

If Pakistan wins the quarterfinal, it’s understood that Junaid will be called up as a replacement for Irfan.

Before Irfan was ruled out of the rest of the tournament, former captain Wasim Akram said that the player needed to work on his fitness.

“Irfan is different,” said Wasim. “His body stretches more and needs careful handling.”

The Pakistan Cricket Board earlier confirmed Irfan’s injury. “Irfan underwent an MRI scan on Monday afternoon and the radiologist’s report showed a stress injury of the pelvis but was inconclusive,” said a PCB release.




 

Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

沪公网安备 31010602000204号

Email this to your friend