Pakistan batsman Haris Sohail has been ruled out of this month’s white-ball tour of England with a hamstring injury, it was announced on Thursday.
The Pakistan Cricket Board said Sohail would return home to undergo a four-week rehabilitation programme at the national high-performance centre in Lahore. No replacement has been named for Sohail, who was only meant to feature in the one-day-international leg of a tour that also includes three Twenty20s. Sohail’s withdrawal was announced just hours before the first of a three-match ODI series between 50-over world champions England and Pakistan at Cardiff. After Pakistan arrived in Britain, the 32-year-old left-hander — who boasts an impressive batting average of nearly 47 in his 42 ODIs — pulled out of the first intra-squad practice game on July 1 and missed the second one as well.
A scan on Wednesday confirmed a muscle tear, with the PCB saying Sohail had suffered the injury during training. “I was keenly looking forward to the ODIs as part of my objective to contribute to the side’s success and also cement my position in the side,” Sohail said in a PCB statement. “I am disappointed that my tour has been cut short, but I will return to Lahore and undergo a rehabilitation programme so that I can fully recover for the 2021/22 season.” Sohail also withdrew from a tour of England last year because of the prospect of having to stay in isolation as part of coronavirus rules.