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Lanky Pakistan pacer Mohammad Irfan being ruled out of the World Cup with a hip injury was always on the cards. Now the team is in a dilemma ahead of Friday’s quarter-final against Australia in Adelaide with regard to his replacement.
There was always doubt about how the fragile seven feet one inch bowler would hold up during the World Cup. Many expected him to be the first casualty in the Pakistan camp as his body structure makes him vulnerable to injury.
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His height not only brings with it fitness issues, but also day-to-day matters are needed to be handled carefully. Like every hotel was informed before the team landed in Australia about the need for a bigger bed for him.
Head coach Waqar Younis admitted Irfan was carrying niggles even when he embarked the plane for the World Cup and his hip injury was an old one.
The Pakistan team management should have found enough gap days and rested him in the easier game against United Arab Emirates. That match in Napier on March 4 provided the first hint of what was to come as Irfan limped off the field after bowling only three overs.
He somehow managed to play a full game against South Africa after injections which helped ease the pain but the injury forced him to miss the next match against Ireland.
Scans on his pelvis showed that there is a stress fracture.
"It has left me deeply disappointed," said Irfan.
"I was in no mood to give up, but this injury is serious and career-threatening, so the team management did not want to take any risks. I will go back with a heavy heart because my mission was not completed," he added.
Pakistan are now left with no choice. The best they can do, in the event they defeat Australia and line up for the semi-final in Sydney, is summon Saeed Ajmal. Both Sydney and the MCG -- the venue of the final -- could seemingly back Ajmal's recall.
The magical spinner had his action cleared last month, but Younis is in no mood to recall him as he feels he has not played any international cricket for six months and, hence, will not be match fit.
Also in the reckoning is Junaid Khan, the injury-prone fast bowler who was included in Pakistan’s World Cup 15, but slipped during the practice camp and was out with a leg injury.
He has since aggravated the injury in a car travel back home in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Above all, he too has not played a game for over three months.
The last option could have been Mohammad Hafeez, but, unfortunately, the Pakistan Cricket Board did not get his action cleared.
Hafeez was due to have a reassessment test on February 6, but it had to be cancelled because of the calf injury the all-rounder sustained.
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