Pakistan leg spinner Yasir Shah needs four to five weeks to recover from a knee injury, officials said yesterday, putting him on track for the team’s summer tour of England. The 30-year-old, who is ranked third in Tests, was forced out of a boot camp in the city of Abbottabad after experiencing pain in his left knee. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said in a statement a scan had revealed a minor injury.
“Shah is suffering from tear in the lateral meniscus along with small osteochondral defect. He needs conservative management which includes physical therapy and extensive rehabilitation. In our opinion he will recover in four to five weeks time,” it said.
Shah has been Pakistan’s leading bowler in Tests in recent times and his participation is seen as key for the team’s chances in the four-Test series in England from July 14.
He has so far taken 76 wickets in 12 Tests and has been taken on the mantle of the country’s main spinner after Saeed Ajmal’s career was derailed following a suspension for chucking.
Shah took 49 wickets in 2015 which helped Pakistan jump to second in the Test rankings. Fifteen of them came in Pakistan’s 2-0 win over England in the three-Test series in the United Arab Emirates.
Earlier this year Shah was suspended following a failed dope test, a punishment which was lifted after he pleaded guilty, saying he took his wife’s blood pressure tablet by mistake. The International Cricket Council lifted the suspension in March.
Australia briefed on Zika virus ahead of Windies tour
Australia captain Steven Smith and his team have been warned about risks associated with the Zika virus ahead of their tour of the West Indies next month.
Australia will play West Indies and South Africa in a triangular one-day international tournament in St Kitts & Nevis, Barbados and Guyana from June 5. A handful of cases of Zika - a mosquito-borne virus known to cause the birth defect microcephaly - have been recorded in Guyana, on South America’s north coast.
Cricket Australia chief medical officer John Orchard said the players had been briefed on how to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes and reminded of “safe-sex practices”.
Zika is spread primarily by mosquitoes but can also be transmitted sexually, prompting the Australian Olympic Committee to provide ‘Zika-proof’ condoms to athletes heading to the Rio de Janeiro Games in August.
An outbreak of the disease in Puerto Rico caused two Major League Baseball games to be relocated from the Caribbean island to Miami later this month. Preparations for the Rio Olympics have been overshadowed by a major Zika outbreak in Brazil, prompting some athletes to elect to skip the Games.
Yasir Shah
