Daily Times

LAHORE: Pakistan suffered a stinging setback on Monday ahead of their Test tours of Ireland and England after key leg-spinner Yasir Shah was ruled out with a hip bone injury. The 31-year-old has been key to Pakistan’s Test wins since 2014, having taken 165 wickets in 28 Test matches. Chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq confirmed the spinner would not be available for the tours. “Yasir is ruled out of the Ireland and England Test tours and it’s a big blow,” Inzamam told media. “It’s a big loss for the team.” Yasir recently played a full part in the PSL with Lahore Qalandars, but afterwards complained of pain in his hip bone. He has been involved in a local tournament in his town, Swabi, lately where he featured in a friendly match, but it is unclear if he picked up the injury there. An MRI confirmed a stress fracture that requires conservative rehabilitation, beginning with four weeks of rest, followed by a six weeks of active rehab. He has been called up to the National Cricket Academy for further assessment, but will not join the pool of players undergoing fitness tests along with Imad Wasim and Sohail Khan – both of whom are out with injury. The PCB has called up centrally contract players for mid-year fitness tests ahead of the Ireland and England tour, and training sessions will be carried out before selectors shortlist a final 17-man squad.

Inzamam said the selectors had called teenage leg-spinner Shadab Khan, off-spinner Bilal Asif and left-arm slow bowler Kashif Bhatti to fill in the gap. Shadab has taken just one wicket in a single Test appearance in Barbados last year, while the others have yet to play a Test. Yasir has taken 89 wickets in 16 of the 17 Tests Pakistan have played under head coach Mickey Arthur since May 2016. He took a match-winning 10 wickets in Pakistan’s victory at Lord’s in 2016 on their way to a 2-2 series draw in England. The leg-spinner also raced to 100 wickets in 17 Tests, while also taking 150 wickets in 27 Tests – the second fastest player in Pakistan to achieve both milestones. Pakistan will be Ireland’s inaugural Test opponent in Dublin from May 11-15 before playing two Tests against England. The first Test is at Lord’s from May 24-28 while the second is at Leeds from June 1-5.

Published in Daily Times, April 10^th 2018.