Srinagar: Pakistan skipper Babar Azam has provided a manos update on the availability of star pacer duo Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah for the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 next month in India.
Haris and Naseem picked up niggling injuries during Pakistan Super 4 clash against India at the Asia Cup and were sitting on from the sidelines when the side crashed out of the tournament against Sri Lanka in Colombo on Thursday.
Teams have until September 28 to submit their squads to the ICC for the six-week tournament and may only alter their 15-player groups after that date with permission from the event organisers.
While Babar is hopeful that both Naseem and Rauf will recover in time for Pakistan’s World Cup opener against the Netherlands in Hyderabad on October 6, the skipper was not giving too much away when quizzed on contingency plans should the pair miss out.
“I’ll tell you later,” Babar said.
“Not telling you our Plan B now. But yes, Haris Rauf is not bad. He’s just got a little bit of a side strain, but he’s recovering before the World Cup”.
“Naseem Shah also… they have a couple of miss matches, I don’t know (how long) the recovery, but in my opinion, Naseem Shah also (will be) in the World Cup later on. But let’s see.”
