Dropped Yasir Shah argues he’s fit to play against Zimbabwe

Dropped Yasir Shah argues he’s fit to play against Zimbabwe

March 13, 2021
Dropped Yasir Shah argues he’s fit to play against Zimbabwe / Photo: AFP

Islamabad: Leg-spinner Yasir Shah on Friday claimed that he has regained his fitness and was planning to start training in the next few days after getting dropped from the Test squad for the two-match series against Zimbabwe in April.

Reacting to the selection committee decision to ‘rest’ him for the upcoming Test series, Yasir said he had some knee problem but has regained complete fitness now.

“The Test series will be played after almost a month’s time. One-Day and T20 matches will be held first so the Test series against Zimbabwe will be starting after mid-April,” he told the correspondent.

“Now when I have recovered from a knee problem, I can start training in the nets in a few days and hopefully would be in the best of rhythm in a couple of weeks.” 

Earlier on Friday, Pakistan announced squads for its African tour in which the national team will play three ODIs and four T20Is against South Africa and two Tests and three T20Is against Zimbabwe. 

The selection committee dropped a number of key players including country's most successful Test leg-spinner Yasir.

The 34-year-old added that his problem was not so serious. “Despite of this problem I continued taking wickets. After a brief rest from active cricket, now I am feeling much better and have recovered fully,” Yasir said. 

Chief selector Mohammad Wasim, however, said that there were some problems with Yasir’s fitness as well as his action.

“We want him to work on both the issues and get fully recovered. This was the only reason for which he was sidelined from the Test series against Zimbabwe.

“Yasir is suffering from knee injury and requires six more weeks to recover fully,” he said.

Regarding Yasir’s aim to recover fully by the time Test series starts after more than a month time, Wasim said that he was in a mood to take chances.

“We need completely fit Yasir for Test series to be played later. We want him ready for more important international commitments in months to come,” he said.

Wasim added that Yasir’s absence from the team has opened doors for Zahid Mahmood, who will have a stronger case in the Test squad as compared to the T20I side following the return of Shadab Khan and the presence of Usman Qadir. “He [Zahid] has shown guts in domestic cricket and white-ball international cricket. We also need to test his skills in red-ball cricket,” the chief selector said.

“For a place in the Test side, Zahid will compete with Nauman Ali and Sajid Khan, who were the two outstanding bowlers in the first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.”

Read: PSL stars Sharjeel Khan, Shahnawaz Dahani selected for African tour

Abdul Mohi Shah is a senior reporter for The News

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