Pak players Shaheen, Shafique, Zaman down with viral infection ahead of WC clash against Australia
Oct 17, 2023
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], October 17 : In a shocking turn of events, members of the Pakistan cricket team have fallen ill with viral infections ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup match against Australia on Friday.
Four Pakistani cricketers - Batter Abdullah Shafique and Saud Shakeel, along with pacers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Zaman Khan have been affected by the viral infections.
As per ESPNCricinfo, most of the players have recovered or are recovering and they did not attend Tuesday's optional practice session.
Abdullah is in quarantine with flu and fever. Usama Mir was also unwell with flu when Pakistan took on India at Ahmedabad on Saturday. Afridi is expected to be fit for the match against Australia. A positive thing is that none of the players have displayed dengue symptoms.
"Some players got fever in the past few days and most of them have fully recovered from it," the PCB said in a statement. "Those who are in the stage of recovery remain under the team medical panel's observation."
Notably, star India batter Shubman Gill had also missed two games due to dengue and recovered just in time to play Pakistan.
Pakistan arrived in Bengaluru on Sunday after the match against India.
While Pakistan has won two games and lost one, Australia just opened their win tally against Sri Lanka, previously losing to India and South Africa. Pakistan lost their previous match against arch-rivals India as well.
Pakistan squad: Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Wasim.
Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Steve Smith, Alex Carey, Josh Inglis, Sean Abbott, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitch Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa, Mitchell Starc.
