Afghanistan wicket-keeper Mohammad Shahzad departs from World Cup 2019
Afghanistan opener and wicket-keeper Mohammad Shahzad has departed from ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 due to a knee injury.
Known for his consistent big-hits at the top of the order, he suffered the knee injury during Afghanistan’s warm-up match against Pakistan last month. Even though he had featured in the 1st two matches against Australia and Sri Lanka in the World Cup, the 32-year-old has now been ruled out due to an aggravation of the injury.
Shahzad’s injury comes as a big blow to Afghanistan, considering the wicketkeeper-batsman has been one of their top-scorers since the 2015 World Cup with 1843 runs in 55 innings.
“The ICC has confirmed that the Event Technical Committee of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 has approved Khil as a replacement player for Shahzad in the Afghanistan squad for the remainder of the tournament,” an ICC release said.
Ikram Ali Khil, an 18-year-old top-order batsman, will be replacing Shahzad.
Khil was a part of Afghanistan’s under-19 World Cup squad in 2018. He made his ODI debut against Ireland in Dehradun in March 2019 and has only played 2 ODIs for Afghanistan so far. He scored 185 runs in four matches.
Afghanistan that has lost its 1st two matches, will take on New Zealand in their 3rd match of World Cup 2019 in Taunton on Saturday (June 8).
