Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi, who is repsenting Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise Quetta Gladiators this season, is expected to miss the first few matches of the highly-anticipated league, starting tomorrow.
The veteran power-hitter Afridi sustained a back injury in a practice session on Tuesday. He was also not part of the training session of Quetta Gladiators. Afridi was hopeful of being fit in time for season seven but he is not 100 percent fit yet.
As per Geo Super, Afridi requested Quetta to excuse him from the bio-secure bubble. Along with the back pain, a relative of Afridi’s wife has passed away so the cricketer has to attend to personal matters as well.
Sarfaraz Ahmed, who will be leading Quetta, said they will use their marquee player judiciously and make sure he doesn’t aggravate his injury.
Afridi was unavailable for the UAE-leg of the PSL 6 because of back injury while representing Multan Sultans.
The T20 bigwig has piled up 4,395 runs in 326 matches and has maintained a stupendous strike rate of 154.21. He has shed 344 wickets in the shortest format.
The top-flight bowling all-rounder Afridi alongside England stylish batter James Vince will play for Quetta Gladiators in PSL 2022 edition.
Afridi played four matches for Sultans in last year’s edition that was played in Karachi and UAE. The veteran shed two wickets and made three runs.