Pakistan seamer Naseem Shah’s availability for their first few matches in the upcoming World Cup in India is uncertain, as per captain Babar Azam. (More Cricket News)
Ace pacer Haris Rauf, though, is "recovering well" from a side strain and should be fit in time for their opening game against The Netherlands in Hyderabad on October 6, Babar said.
Naseem and Haris picked up injuries during Pakistan's Super 4 encounter against India in the Asia Cup and had to watch from the sidelines as the team crashed out of the tournament after losing to Sri Lanka in Colombo on Thursday.
The Pakistan Cricket Board has not yet released any official timeline regarding Naseem's rehabilitation process following a right shoulder injury.
In light of this, Babar expressed uncertainty regarding Naseem's fitness for the start of the tournament.
"I'll tell you later... Not telling you our Plan B now. But, yes, Haris Rauf is not bad. He's just got a little bit of a side strain, but he's recovering before the World Cup.
"Naseem Shah also... they have a couple of miss matches, I don't know (how long) the recovery (is), but in my opinion, Naseem Shah also (will be) in the World Cup later on. But let's see," he added.
Naseem, 20, has been injury prone in his career so far. The speedster had a back problem when he was 17 years old and it kept him out of action for 14 months.
Six weeks after his comeback, a shoulder injury occurred during his debut appearance in the County Championship with Gloucestershire, which kept him for another month.
Initially identified as a red-ball specialist, he has evolved as a key bowler for Pakistan across all three formats of the game.
In one-day internationals, he has emerged as Pakistan's most formidable bowler, amassing 32 wickets in just 14 matches all at an average of below 17.
Teams have until September 28 to submit their squads to the ICC for the six-week tournament and they may only alter their 15-player groups after that date with permission from the event organisers.
Pakistan have no official 50-over matches prior to the start of the World Cup, although they do have two warm-up games scheduled against New Zealand (September 29) and Australia (October 3) that do not hold official ODI status.
(With PTI inputs)
