The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said Thursday that fast bowler Hasan Ali will not be able to play in the upcoming match against South Africa. The Green Shirts are getting ready for a must-win match.
“Fast bowler Hasan Ali can’t play in Pakistan’s game against South Africa because he is sick,” the board said in a short statement.
Hasan had a fever last night, but the PCB said he is getting better and that the pacer will be given extra time to rest before the rest of the games. fast bowler Mohammad Wasim Junior is likely to replace Ali, who has a fever, in Pakistan’s team, even though there was no official word.
The 1992 winners got off to a good start by beating the Netherlands and Sri Lanka. But they were badly beaten by India and Australia, and their last game was a disaster against their neighbours Afghanistan.
On Friday, they play South Africa, who has four wins in five games and hasn’t let their shocking loss to the Netherlands bother them. This will be another test of their skills.
Pakistan can still make it to the semi-finals with four games left in the group, but there isn’t much room for error.
Shadab Khan, an all-rounder for Pakistan, said today that his struggling teammates still think “miracles can happen” as the defending champions face a “do-or-die” battle to save their World Cup campaign.
Shadab, who works for captain Babar Azam, said, “If you believe, miracles happen.”