“Shaheen Afridi will be ruled out of the second Test, which will be played in Galle from July 24, due to a knee injury on the fourth day of the first Test,” the team said in a statement.
He will be with the Test team in Sri Lanka, where his initial rehabilitation and management will continue under the care of the team’s medical staff, the release said.
22-year-old Shaheen Afridi, who has taken 99 wickets in 25 Tests since making his debut in 2018, led Pakistan’s pace attack, which included Hasan Ali and Naseem Shah, to end a tense fifth day in the match.
Shaheen took four wickets for 58 runs in fourteen overs in the first innings of the first match. He has been looking like a key bowler for Pakistan for quite some time now. Without him, Pakistan’s bowling unit would look a bit shaky. Sri Lanka will also feel a bit relieved and will try to bounce back in the second match.
If the management feels that Shaheen should be rested, Haris Rauf has been identified as his possible backup. The second test match will start from July 24.
Opener Abdullah Shafiq scored an unbeaten 160 to chase down Pakistan’s record of 342 runs at the Galle International Stadium to lead the two-match series 1-0.
Sri Lanka Squad
Oshada Fernando, Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dinesh Chandimal, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Ramesh Mendis, Maheesh Theekshana, Prabath Jayasuriya, Kasun Rajitha, Kamindu Mendis, Asitha Fernando, Vishwa Fernando, Jeffrey Vandersay, Dunith Wellalage, Dilshan Madushanka
PAK playing
Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Azhar Ali, Babar Azam (c), Agha Salman, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Yasir Shah, Hasan Ali, Naseem Shah, Fawad Alam, Nauman Ali, Haris Rauf, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shan Masood, Saud Shakeel, Faheem Ashraf