Pakistan leg spinner Abrar Ahmed ruled out of first Test against Australia; Sajid Khan named as replacement

Abrar Ahmed. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Team Pakistan have suffered a big blow in the form of Abrar Ahmed, who has been ruled out of the first Test against Australia, slated to commence on Thursday. Notably, the willy leg spinner suffered a knee injury during the warm-up game against Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra. As a result, clouds of doubts have surfaced over Ahmed’s further participation in the rest of the Test series.

In the aftermath of the injury, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) came forward to state Abrar’s injury status. The PCB confirmed that the leg spinner will continue to stay with the team in Perth and will take further treatment. Besides, any decision regarding Abrar Ahmed will be taken after an assessment done before the ‘Boxing Day’ Test. As a replacement for Ahmed, Pakistan have called the talented off-spinner Sajid Khan to join the Test squad ahead of the first Test.

“He has not been ruled out of the Test series yet, but keeping the player’s wellbeing in mind for this and future tours, further assessment before the second Test will ascertain his availability on this tour,” the press release mentioned.

Abrar Ahmed injured his right knee on day 3 of warm-up game against Prime Minister’s XI

Speaking of the warm-up fixture that took place in Canberra, leg spinner Abrar Ahmed bowled 27 overs against the Prime Minister’s XI, before picking up a knee injury on his right leg on day 3 of the game. Thereafter, he was taken away for MRI scans to assess the impact of the injury. When it comes to the Test journey, the willy leg spinner has 38 scalps from just six Test appearances.

Meanwhile, off-spinner Sajid Khan, who is expected to fly to Australia, last played for Pakistan in March 2022. So far, Khan has featured in 7 Tests, whereby, he has 22 victims to his name. It is worth mentioning that he has been in reasonably good form with the ball as he picked 18 wickets from six games he played at the recently concluded domestic level games. Now, only time will tell if Pakistan will miss Abrar Ahmed in the first Test against Australia.