Himself returning from an injury layoff, PAK pacer Shaheen Afridi decided to injure Afghanistan wk-batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz in today’s warm-up match between PAK and AFG.
The fixture was held at the Gabba Stadium situated in Brisbane, Australia.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz gets injured and dismissed on the same ball
Babar Azam won the toss and elected to bowl first and Shaheen Afridi proved him right in the first over itself.
On the 5th ball of the first over, Shaheen bowled a deadly yorker to Afghanistan opener Gurbaz who simply had no answers to it.
The express pace on the yorker caught Rahmanullah Gurbaz sleeping as it stung him on his left foot before he could bring his bat down.
The young batsman was declared LBW, bagging a first-ball duck. However, it was the least of the concerns for Afghanistan as Rahmanullah appeared hurt.
— Guess Karo (@KuchNahiUkhada) October 19, 2022
The physios had to rush out to the ground and check up on a wincing Rahmanullah, causing a slight halt in the game. He was then carried outside the ground by AFG’s 12th man.
Soon, Rahmanullah Gurbaz was taken for scans at a nearby hospital according to reports.
Shaheen continued his menacing run since his return and bowled yorkers and full deliveries aimed at the stumps. He also dismissed Hazratullah Zazai in his 2nd over.
The Afghans were in serious trouble at 48 for 4 and if not for Mohammed Nabi’s 51*(37), they may not have finished with 156 for 6 at the end of the innings.
Thereafter, rain affected the game and PAK could only play 14 balls before play was called off and the sides had to settle for No Result.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz is one of the key batters for the Afghanistan side and also doubles up as their wicketkeeper. Hence, they’ll wish that the injury he has sustained on his left foot is a minor one.