Pakistan suffer injury blow ahead of first West Indies Test

Pakistan top-order batter Abdullah Fazal has been ruled out of the West Indies and England tours, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed in a press release on Friday.

Abdullah, 23, sustained a lower back injury during a training session at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy Ground in Trinidad on 23 July.

According to the board, an MRI scan and clinical assessment by a medical panel confirmed that Abdullah will require rehabilitation, ruling him out of the national team’s upcoming assignments.

Abdullah Fazal’s replacement will be announced in due course.

The left-handed batter also played in the four-day warm-up fixture against West Indies Select XI, managing 50 and 48 in the first and second innings, respectively.

As per reports, Fazal was set to occupy Saud Shakeel’s batting order after the latter endured a prolonged lean run with the bat.

According to reports, Fazal was set to replace Saud Shakeel in the batting order after the latter endured a prolonged lean run with the bat.

It is worth mentioning that Abdullah Fazal recently made his debut for Pakistan in the Bangladesh series, where he scored 141 runs in two matches at an average of 35.25, including two half-centuries.

The first Test of the two-match series between Pakistan and West Indies will start tomorrow at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, marking the first time that a Test will be staged at this venue.

Pakistan Squad

Babar Azam (c), Aamir Jamal, Ali Usman, Azan Awais, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Awais Zafar, Muhammad Ghazi Ghori (wk), Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Shan Masood and Ubaid Shah.