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Legspinner Abrar Ahmed of Pakistan is doubtful to play
in the two matches that follow after suffering a knee injury during a tour game
earlier this week. He will not play in the opening Test against Australia on
Thursday.
Abrar will remain with the team and receive treatment
in Perth, according to a press release issued by the PCB on Sunday. After that,
he’ll go through “conservative rehabilitation” and need to be
reevaluated in order to “ascertain his availability on this tour”
before to the Boxing Day Test. Sajid Khan has been called up by the PCB to
improve the spin stocks, but they haven’t completely ruled him out of playing
in Sydney or Melbourne just yet.
Abrar, who has taken 38 wickets in his first six Test
matches, seems destined to be Pakistan’s main spin bowler as they look to win
their maiden Test series in Australia. It will be up to Noman Ali to spearhead
the spin attack in circumstances that might not be conducive to his bowling
style if he is forced to miss a significant amount of time due to injury. With
47 wickets in 15 Test matches, the left-arm orthodox bowler has generally
flourished on slow and low grounds.
Sajid, on the other hand, finished the seventh Test
match in March 2022 with 22 wickets. With 18 wickets in six matches, he tied
for the 12th-highest wicket-taker in the 2023 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, Pakistan’s
first-class championship.
The team’s spin-bowling all-rounder, Agha Salman,
might also be asked to bowl spin.
With Shaheen Shah Afridi leading the way with Hasan
Ali, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Wasim, Faheem Ashraf, and the untested pair of Khurram
Shahzad and Aamer Jamal providing backup, Pakistan have a plenty of seam
options at their disposal.