Shehzad suffers blow to forearm

KARACHI: The Pakistan team management was given a scare on Friday when opener Ahmed Shehzad went down with a blow on his forearm during the team’s practice session in the indoor nets of the Adelaide Oval.

Shehzad was struck by a ball from Ehsan Adil as he tried to play the shot against a rising delivery, which took the bat’s edge and hit his forearm.

In the aftermath of the incident, the concerned management took the batsman for an X-ray.

“It looked like a bruise from the outset but as a precaution, physiotherapist Brad Robinson thought it was prudent to get an X-ray done, which came out clear,” the PCB confirmed.

“Shehzad is receiving the necessary treatment from the team physiotherapist, and most likely will take part in training on Saturday ahead of the Pakistan-India encounter.”

The 23-year-old has represented Pakistan in 58 ODIs so far in his career, scoring 1,985 runs at an average of 34.82 with six centuries and 10 fifties.

He, along with wicketkeeper-batsman Sarfaraz Ahmed, was one of the most consistent performers for Pakistan in 2014 as he scored in the series against Sri Lanka, Australia and New Zealand.

Pakistan have already lost experienced players such as Muhammad Hafeez and Junaid Khan due to their respective injuries, and the management would be left with almost no options if another player went down right before the key encounter against arch-rivals India on Sunday.

Shehzad has been asked to ice his forearm to minimise the swelling.

“The blow wasn’t as bad as it was made out by the instant reaction of the player. He remains a key player for Pakistan and we’re confident that he will be in the right shape going into the big match against India,” a team official told The Express Tribune.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 14^th, 2015.

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