KOLKATA: Haris Rauf is dealing with a rib sprain in his green jerseys, raising a serious injury fear in the national team ahead of their match against England, sources said Geo News on Monday.
The development comes as the 30-year-old walked off the field during New Zealand’s innings after conceding 85 runs in 10 overs.
Rauf underwent an MRI scan after complaining of sprained ribs, the sources added.
Meanwhile, team management also confirmed the pacer’s test, describing it as a “routine” medical procedure.
Rauf’s injury scare comes as Shadab Khan, the team’s Vice-Captain, suffered a concussion in a South Africa match on October 27.
The leg-spinner has not played another match since then and was not involved in the New Zealand match on November 4 last week as well.
It is pertinent to mention that Pakistan’s chances of qualifying for the World Cup semi-final are still tough as their fate is not entirely in their hands.
The Men in Green will face England in a must-win match on November 11 in Kolkata, but their fate – for a place in the semi-finals – will likely be decided before then, as the two Babar-led sides it depends on Afghanistan and New Zealand will have played their remaining matches by then.
Firstly, Afghanistan have two more matches to play in the World Cup, which are by no means easy as they will be against the in-form teams of Australia and South Africa on November 7 and November 10, respectively.
If Afghanistan win both matches, they will qualify directly with 12 points, ahead of New Zealand and Pakistan.
However, Pakistan’s immediate contention is with New Zealand at the moment, as both teams have one more match to play, but the Black Caps have the upper hand in net run rate (NRR), playing their struggling team Sri Lanka on November 9 in Bengaluru.
New Zealand is currently ranked fourth with 0.398 NRR while Pakistan is fifth with 0.036 NRR.
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