Pakistan vs England: Naseem Shah's injury adds to Pakistan's uncertainty over pace bowling attack
As if losing the three-match home Test series to England in just two matches wasn't enough of a hammer blow for the Pakistan cricket team, they have been hit with another big blow – and like the close losses to England in the first two Tests, it's a blow they are all too familiar with.
Naseem Shah has been ruled out of the third Test against England at KarachiPacer Naseem Shah has been ruled out of the third Test against England at Karachi after he was forced to miss the second Test at Multan due to an injury he picked up in the first Test at Rawalpindi.
It is worth noting that Naseem was visibly uncomfortable at Rawalpindi but gutted out a good performance that saw him claim five wickets on a surface that aided no one but the batters.
However, he is now out of the series – and this only adds to Pakistan's woes going into the final Test that, while a dead-rubber in the context of the series, is still a must-win game for the home team to keep their World Test Championship (WTC) Final 2023 chances alive.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Update: Naseem Shah has been ruled out of the third Test between Pakistan and England at Karachi.<br><br>The fast bowler will travel to Lahore where he will undergo further assessment at the National High Performance Centre before beginning rehabilitation. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PAKvENG?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PAKvENG</a></p>— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) <a href="https://twitter.com/_FaridKhan/status/1602692427588018176?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 13, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
They had already had to make do without their spearhead in Shaheen Shah Afridi, who was ruled out of the series before it began due to reaggravating his knee injury during the T20 World Cup.
To make things worse, Haris Rauf – who made his Test debut in Rawalpindi – is also not available as he was ruled out due to picking up a quad injury.
Pakistan are now in a situation where they may have to give a debut to youngster Mohammad Wasim Jr, who has only played seven first-class games up until this point.
Why do Pakistan have so many issues regarding injuries to their fast bowlers?
For one, fast bowlers will inevitably pick up injuries. It's just the nature of the beast since they put so much load on their bodies that they will inevitably break down at some point.
That is why workload management regarding pace bowlers is extremely important. Sporadic breaks here or there are necessary to prolong the career of a fast bowler.
Pakistan don't do that often and, to make things worse, will usually expect players to play through minor injuries or rush back from major ones.
In hindsight, it is easy to see that Shaheen was rushed back from his treatment to be a part of the T20 World Cup.
In the short term, it was a strategy that paid some dividends because he could play a part in them reaching the finals.
But in the long term, it's only harmed Pakistan, as they have been without his services for several months.
In Naseem's case, he bowled and fielded despite being injured, and that would have done his injuries no favours. It may have made things worse.
So for Pakistan, the issue is treating injuries right and ensuring the right amount of recovery time is given to their players.
Only when they can do this will they get out of this cycle of their pacers all long-term suffering injuries.