Pakistan T20 captain Salman Ali Agha is optimistic that star pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi would be able to regain full fitness from the knee injury and would be able to feature in the T20 World Cup 2026.
Shaheen suffered a knee injury while fielding in the Big Bash League for his team Brisbane Heat. The Pakistan Cricket Board called him back for rehabilitation.
"We are hopeful he will be fit for the World Cup but the final decision will come from the (Pakistan Cricket) Board on advice from the medical panel," Salman told the media in Dambulla where Pakistan take on Sri Lanka in the first T20I on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Shaheen is currently rehabilitating in Lahore. His rehabilitation is being supervised by the PCB's medical panel at the High Performance Centre.
The Pakistan Board on Wednesday released a video of the pacer doing rehabilitation; however, the board didn't mention the extent of his injury or the timeline of when the pacer will regain full fitness.
Shaheen's history with knee issues
Meanwhile, this is not the first time that Shaheen has picked up a knee injury. He also suffered the problem in 2022 while fielding in a Test match against Sri Lanka and was sidelined for several months. He had also missed the early stages of the T20 World Cup 2022.
Pakistan will hope for Shaheen to get back to full fitness as he will be a crucial cog for them in the global tournament in India and Sri Lanka which is one month away.
Pakistan are playing in a crucial T20I series against Sri Lanka. This is their final T20I assignment before the start of the World Cup on February 7.
This series will be extremely beneficial for the World Cup, particularly for players who lack extensive experience of playing in Sri Lanka.
Pakistan have named just one uncapped player, Khawaja Nafay, in their squad for the three-match series against Sri Lanka.
The major highlight is the return of seasoned all-rounder Shadab Khan, who is back in the national setup after an eight-month absence following shoulder surgery.
Shadab earned his recall after impressing with his form in the Big Bash League in December.
