As on the expected lines, Saud Shakeel opened the innings for Pakistan against New Zealand in the opening match of the Champions Trophy Fixture in Karachi due to Fakhar Zaman's injury. The latter, who was slotted into come at the crease in number three, had to open the innings due to the former's apparent muscular sprain in the lower back. Zaman suffered this setback in just the second ball of New Zealand's innings.
The incident took place when Kiwi opener Will Young drove Shaheen Afridi through covers. Zaman ran after the ball and managed to stop it before it hit the boundary straps. It is then that the southpaw faced some discomfort, as he immediately clutched his lower back, and signaled for a substitute fielder to step in. Despite walking off the field, Zaman returned to the field after the fall of New Zealand's second wicket in the ninth over.
ADVERTISEMENT
Loading...
"Fakhar Zaman is being assessed and examined for a muscular sprain and further updates will be provided in due course," the PCB said in a statement, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
Saud Shakeel flops as an opener, Pakistan in deep trouble
The Shakeel experiment did not yield the desirable results as the southpaw could score just (6) runs. In the absence of Zaman, the former needed to step up, and ease some load off Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan. Unfortunately, it was not to be. Chasing 321, Pakistan have got off to the worst possible start.
