As the Green Shirts prepare for a crucial match against South Africa, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) declared on Thursday that fast bowler Hasan Ali would not play.
The board issued a brief statement saying, “Hasan Ali, Pakistan’s fast bowler, is unavailable for Pakistan’s match against South Africa due to illness.”
The PCB stated that although Hasan had a fever last night, he is doing fine and that the pacer will be given time off to fully recover before the remaining games.
Geo News was informed by reliable sources that Mohammad Wasim Junior, a fast bowler, will probably take Ali’s place in Pakistan’s squad, even though there was no official word on the matter.
Following victories over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka to start the campaign, the 1992 winners were soundly defeated by Australia and India before being humbled by their neighbors, Afghanistan, in their final match.
They will put their resources to the test once more on Friday when they play the prolific South Africa, who have won four of their last five games and have forgotten their shocking defeat to the Netherlands.
Pakistan can still advance to the semifinals with four group games remaining, but there won’t be much room for error.
All-arounder Shadab Khan of Pakistan emphasized today that his underachieving colleagues still think “miracles can happen” as the defending champions face a “do-or-die” struggle to turn around their dismal World Cup campaign.
“Miracles happen if you have belief,” captain Babar Azam’s deputy Shadab stated.