The Pakistan ODI captain, Shaheen Afridi, was ruled out of competitive cricket following an injury during a BBL match between the Brisbane Heat and the Adelaide Strikers. A major update has been issued confirming his recovery from the knee injury ahead of the T20 World Cup.
Pakistan have set their 2026 ICC T20 World Cup preparations in motion as they have announced the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka from the 7th of January. As per the understandings between the BCCI and the PCB, Pakistan will play all their matches outside India in a neutral venue.
With Sri Lanka as the official co-hosts of the competition, Pakistan are scheduled to play the entire tournament in the Lankan islands, and if they reach the knockouts, then even those shall be played in Sri Lanka. Hence, PCB announced the Sri Lanka tour on short notice and with approval from the SLC.
Shaheen Afridi’s return date finalized ahead of ICC T20 World Cup
Pakistan had lost their seasoned pacer Shaheen Afridi ahead of the marquee tournament. Pakistan had to sustain injury blows to one of their most crucial campaigners in the ICC tournaments, Shaheen Afridi. The Pakistan ODI skipper suffered a knee injury during a BBL contest with the Brisbane Heat.
He was hence ruled out for the remainder of the BBL season, while other Pakistani players like Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Shadab Khan, and Haris Rauf continued to star in the Australian T20 league.
The latest update through reports on Shaheen Afridi has clarified that the pacer has begun his rehab for his knee injury at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore, and the doctors and physios have recommended him a one-week rehab.
Marking the end of his rehab, Afridi will resume bowling in the nets after his MRI report is satisfactory and no serious injury concern is noted through the reports.
🚨UPDATE ON SHAHEEN SHAH AFRIDI’S INJURY 🇵🇰
– He has begun rehab for his knee in NCA Lahore
– Doctors have recommended a 1-week rehab
– He will resume bowling after that.MRI report is satisfactory no serious injury,( Qadir Khawaja) pic.twitter.com/B4PG0qtllq— junaiz (@dhillow_) January 5, 2026
Shaheen Afridi did not have a promising season in the BBL
The left-handed bowling all-rounder from Pakistan did not have a very promising debut in the Big Bash League. He was picked by the Brisbane Heat and featured in all four games before he was ruled out with an injury.
Playing for the Heat in his maiden BBL season, Afridi was quite ineconomical and leaked away a lot of runs in his spells. In the four matches, he managed to pick just 2 wickets, one against the Perth Scorchers and the other against the Sydney Thunder.
He also played against his teammates Shadab Khan and Mohammad Rizwan, who are playing the BBL for the Adelaide Strikers and Melbourne Renegades, respectively.
Will Shaheen Afridi play the Australia T20I series before the World Cup?
Shaheen was not picked in the Pakistan squad for the upcoming three-match T20I tour to Sri Lanka. The injury might have forced the PCB not to consider him for the preparatory series for the World Cup. However, a few days later, he was named in Pakistan’s provisional squad for the T20 World Cup.
Citing his major miss in the Sri Lanka tour, Shaheen might look forward to featuring in the home series against Australia. Australia and Pakistan were likely to schedule a three-match T20I series between January 30th and the 5th of February, while the ODI league of the series would be held in March after the proceedings of the ICC T20 World Cup.
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