Asia Cup 2022: The next edition of the Asia Cup is just one week away. A total of six teams will compete in the upcoming tournament to be the Asian King. The Men in Blue are the defending champions as they won the last two editions of the tournament in 2016 and 2018, beating Bangladesh on both occasions.
However, all the teams have announced their squads for the tournament. For India, star pacer Jasprit Bumrah has been ruled out due to injury, along with Harshal Patel. While the Indian selectors have dropped Mohammed Shami from the team. India’s pacers are Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, and Arshdeep Singh.
On the other hand, there was a lot of speculation in the neighbors’ camp as well regarding the fitness of their ace pacer, Shaheen Afridi. He is struggling with a knee injury and couldn’t feature in the second test against Sri Lanka recently. But as per the latest developments, it has been learnt that the left-armer will miss the upcoming Asia Cup due to injury.
Shaheen has been ruled out of the Asia Cup 2022 and also the upcoming seven-match T20 series against England. It is a huge blow for Babar Azam and his team because Shaheen was the bowler who separated India and Pakistan in the last T20 World Cup 2021.
The report was confiremed by the PCB Chief Medical Officer, Dr Najeebullah Soomro. He said,
“I have spoken with Shaheen and he is understandably upset with the news, but he is brave young man who has vowed to come back strongly to serve his country and team. Although he has made progress during his rehabilitation in Rotterdam, it is now clear he will require more time and is likely to return to competitive cricket in October.”
Shaheen was the leader of the pack for Pakistan and they will certainly miss his services. The Men in Green have the likes of Haris Rauf, Naseem Saha, Shahnawaz Dahani, and Mohammad Wasim Jr in their pace attack. So it will be interesting to see how they will manage.
This might also dent the chances of Pakistan in the upcoming Asia Cup 2022. However, they will just hope that the left-armer can recover soon because the upcoming World Cup is just one and a half months away. Pakistan will face India in their first match of the tournament.
When will India and Pakistan play in the Asia Cup 2022?
India will face Pakistan in their first game on Sunday, August 28 at Dubai International Stadium.
Why is Shaheen Afridi ruled out of the Asia Cup 2022?
Shaheen has been ruled out of the Asia Cup due to his knee injury.
Who will win the Asia Cup 2022?
India is the defending champions and is expected to win the upcoming edition as well.