Former Pakistan wicketkeeper batter Moin Khan slammed the Pakistan cricket team’s medical panel and physiotherapist for Naseem Shah’s injury ahead of the World Cup. Naseem sustained a shoulder injury during the Asia Cup 2023 Super 4 clash against India but several reports suggest that it was not the first time he had issues with his shoulder. He complained about the same quiet a few times in the past but the Pakistan team continues to play him.
Naseem has been impressive for Pakistan in white-ball cricket in recent times as his new-ball partnership with Shaheen Shah Afridi troubled the opposition.
Moin lashed out at the PCB’s medical team for not taking Naseem’s complaint seriously and called his injury a disaster.
“Naseem’s injury is a disaster of Pakistan’s team medical panel and physiotherapist. Because he has been constantly complaining that he is having problem since three to four months yet they were continuously playing him. A player would always wish to not get dropped but when he is telling you about his injury, you have to take it very seriously. The medical panel didn’t take it seriously. This was a recipe for disaster,” Moin told Cricket Pakistan.
Moin advised PCB to take action against the medical panel as their lenience cost Pakistan big ahead of the World Cup.
“The authorities in PCB should task them [medical panel] because we suffered a great loss ahead of World Cup when Naseem was in form and was bowling extraordinarily. And which is why now we have to take Hasan Ali.
However, Moin suggested that replacing Naseem with an experienced bowler like Hasan Ali was the right call.
“Hasan Ali is an experienced bowler, who has been through similar circumstances. From that point of view, this decision is suitable and Hasan Ali’s selection is justified,” he added.
Recently, Pakistan captain Babar Azam also talked about the absence of Naseem Shah and said they will miss his services, especially with the new ball as he has formed a leathal duo alongside Shaheen Afridi in recent times.
“Of course, we will miss Naseem Shah as Shaheen [Afridi] and Naseem bowling together gave us a different edge,” Babar continued.
He said that it was a tough decision to find Naseem’s replacement and the team went ahead with Hasan Ali considering his experience.
“It was not easy to pick his replacement, but we all sat together and got input from [chief selector] Inzamam ul Haq. We went with Hasan Ali because he has experience. He has played the World Cup before. I cannot comment who will bowl the new ball or the old ball, as we cannot reveal our strategies right now,” he added.