Story ProgressBack to home
Asim, Shoaib to bat in second innings
In-form batsman Asim Kamal and pace spearhead Shoaib Akhtar were cleared to play their part in their team's second innings.
- Indo-Asian News Service
- Updated: February 25, 2007 09:06 AM IST
Read Time:2 min
Rawalpindi: A desperate Pakistan today received a morale-boosting news when in-form batsman Asim Kamal and pace spearhead Shoaib Akhtar were cleared to play their part in their team's second innings in the series-deciding third cricket Test against India here. "Shoaib injured his left thumb and also hurt his back when he fell yesterday on his follow-through. He has a muscle strain in the back while Kamal has a bruised elbow. But both of them are expected to bat in the second innings," Media Manager Sami-ul Hasan said here today. Although the hosts were deprived of Shoaib's services when those were needed the most today, they sought consolation in the fact that at least he would come out to bat if needed tomorrow. "Shoaib was not allowed to bowl today as a precautionary measure. His injury is not serious but we did not want to take any chances," Hasan said. India's first innings score of 600 has made it imperative for the hosts, who have already lost both their openers, that they bat with responsibility and stave off what could result in their first ever series loss to India on their home soil. The injured duo were sent last evening for X-rays which revealed no fractures. Shoaib had looked in deadly form yesterday as he removed the cream of the Indian batting by dismissing Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman. He had dismissed Virender Sehwag off his first ball on the opening day of the match. Kamal suffered the injury when he was hit on the arm by a Sourav Ganguly's pull shot yesterday. (PTI)
Topics mentioned in this article
Cricket
Get the Latest IPL 2024 Updates, check out IPL 2024 schedules and IPL points table at NDTV Sports.Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for more sports updates. You can also download the NDTV Cricket app for Android or iOS.