‘Fit’ Mohammad Shahzad breaks down after being ‘wrongly’ ruled out of the World Cup

Shahzad played only the first two matches in the mega event.

Mohammad Shahzad has been a fulcrum of the Afghanistan national team for over a decade now. The wicketkeeper-batsman is their leading run-scorer in the ODI format with 2727 runs in 84 matches at an average of 33.66. He also has 14 half-centuries and four centuries in 50-overs cricket. However, all is definitely not well with the experienced 32-year-old from Nangarhar.

He didn’t get a chance to play the 2015 World Cup but was selected in the 15-man squad for the 2019 edition of the mega event in England and Wales. Nevertheless, he has had to go through a torrid time of late. During one of the warm-up matches, he had to retire hurt due to a knee injury. He came back to play the next practice match versus hosts and favorites England in London.

The veteran also took part in the first two matches of the main round against Australia and New Zealand. He couldn’t quite deliver as he could only manage 0 and 7 in those two matches. Thereafter, it was learned that his knee injury had aggravated and he had to be ruled out of the tournament. The 18-year-old Ikram Ali Khil was roped in as Shahzad’s replacement.

A heartbroken Mohammad Shahzad

His exclusion was expected to create a massive void in the Afghanistan batting lineup. Khil also played his first World Cup match against Sri Lanka. Noor Ali Zadran opened the batting along with Hazratullah Zazai in that game. In the meantime, Shahzad has made a startling revelation and said that he has been forcefully pulled out of the squad and there’s no issue surrounding his fitness.

He also said that the Afghanistan Cricket Board (AACB) officials didn’t talk to him before removing him. A popular journalist by the name of M.Ibrahim Momand posted Shahzad’s message on his official Twitter handle. The tweet also mentioned that Shahzad is set to return home.

“I have no problem or injury & fully fit but @ACBofficials pulled me out of the squad by force without any consultation”Says @MShahzad077 who is ruled out of @cricketworldcup due to a knee injury in his recent voice clip to a media in #Kabul as he is set to return home tomorrow.”

Here is the tweet