Hafeez ruled out of England series due to calf strain

Mohammad Hafeez, Pakistan’s opener, will miss the remainder of the England tour due to a calf injury that he sustained before the second One-Day International (ODI) played at Lord’s on Saturday (August 27).

Hafeez had complained about pain in his left calf and had a minor strain which ruled him out of the limited-overs part of the series against England. However, the all-rounder is expected to continue his rehabilitation in England but won’t be staying with the squad.

Hafeez has had a poor run on tour, scoring only 102 runs in the first three Tests before being dropped for the fourth Test at The Oval, which Pakistan won to level the series. He did figure in England’s 44-run rain-affected win in the first ODI at Southampton on Wednesday, but was out for 11. Irfan will leave for the United Kingdom on Sunday to join up with the squad ahead of Tuesday’s third ODI at Nottingham’s Trent Bridge in the English Midlands.

Earlier in the day, it was reported how the PCB officials were unhappy about Hafeez’s reluctance to undergo a bowling assessment test conducted by the ICC to rectify his suspect bowling action which had resulted in him being banned from bowling in global cricket in July 2015.

Adding to his woes, Hafeez is now suspended from bowling because of an illegal action and a knee injury, which threatened his tour participation, prevented him from undergoing a re-test. He completed his 12-month ban imposed on him by the International Cricket Council last month.