Calf injury: Problems deepen as Hafeez ruled out of World Cup

Nasir Jamshed called up as replacement for the experienced all-rounder.

KARACHI:

Pakistan’s World Cup wishes are fast turning into World Cup woes as opener Muhammad Hafeez has been ruled out of the entire tournament just a week before their opener against India on February 15 in Adelaide, Australia.

The team had already lost premier pacer Junaid Khan, who was later replaced by Rahat Ali in the 15-man squad, and Hafeez’s loss has further weakened Pakistan’s chances of winning the mega event.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) submitted the request to call up Nasir Jamshed as his replacement, which has been approved by the technical committee of the International Cricket Council (ICC).



“We’ve named Jamshed as Hafeez’s replacement,” said the PCB spokesperson. “The doctors felt that Hafeez would need to rest for at least two to three weeks and the team management has decided to call Jamshed as a replacement.”

The ICC has confirmed that the Event Technical Committee of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 has approved Jamshed as replacement for Hafeez.

The all-rounder is suffering from a calf injury which he picked up while batting in the second ODI against New Zealand in Napier
on February 3.

Jamshed, the 25-year-old left-handed opener, has played 45 ODIs for Pakistan in which he has scored 1,413 runs with three centuries and eight half-centuries. However, he has been in and out the team in recent times due to his indifferent form after a promising start and his last ODI was against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi in December last year.

Both replacement players, Jamshed and Rahat, will fly to join the squad on Monday.

Any injury or illness-based replacement requires a written submission to the Event Technical Committee, along with a diagnosis from a medical practitioner about the extent of the injury or illness. Once replaced, a player may not return to the squad save as an approved subsequent replacement for another injured player.

The run-up to the World Cup has not been good for Pakistan as they lost all four matches in New Zealand; two side matches as well as both the matches of their two-match ODI series against the Kiwis.

‘Jamshed can perform well in World Cup’

Former cricketer and juniors chief selector Basit Ali believes that Jamshed will do well in the World Cup. “First of all, Hafeez will be a big miss because he is very good against Asian teams and could’ve played an important role against India,” Basit told The Express Tribune. “But I believe Jamshed has the capability to perform well in Australia and New Zealand.”

However, Basit felt that there were more deserving candidates than Jamshed to fill up the spot left vacant by Hafeez.  “For me the more deserving players for the opener’s slot were Khurram Manzoor and Mohammad Rizwan, who have scored heavily in domestic cricket,” he added. “But now that Jamshed has been selected, I wish him good luck. He has got the shots and all he needs to do is play positive cricket.”

Basit further urged the PCB top brass to take strict action against players brewing up a controversy over central contracts as they are focusing on money and not the World Cup.

He also stressed that head coach Waqar Younis needs to stamp his authority on the team, instead of sacrificing in certain cases, if Pakistan are to do well in the mega event.

Discussing the clearance of ace spinner Saeed Ajmal, the official added that people must understand that Ajmal is not ready for the World Cup because he has not cleared his previous action but has instead remodelled it, which puts his effectiveness in doubt.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 9^th,  2015.

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