Haris Sohail out of England tour with hamstring injury
Haris Sohail has been ruled out of the England tour with a grade 3 hamstring injury and will return to Lahore by the first available flight to undergo a four-week rehabilitation programme at the high performance centre. He was meant to make a comeback in ODIs after he was dropped last year after the Zimbabwe series.
Pakistan have not named a replacement because they are carrying a large squad and have the options of Sohaib Maqsood, Saud Shakeel and Agha Salman to fill in.
Sohail was dropped from the Test side as well after the New Zealand tour earlier this year and since then he only played four List A games - for Balochistan - in January. He scored an unbeaten century in four games in the Pakistan Cup, scoring 164 runs but he missed a big chunk of the tournament when he was in New Zealand. He was picked for the ODIs in England after missing out in the series against South Africa.
Pakistan landed in England on June 25, started training on June 28, and Sohail complained about a strain in his leg muscle after two net sessions. He pulled out of the first intra-squad practice game on July 1 and later missed the second one as well. An MRI scan on Wednesday confirmed he had a tear in his hamstring. The PCB said he sustained the injury during a training session in Derby last week.
"I was keenly looking forward to the ODIs as part of my objective to contribute in the side's success and also cement my position in the side," Sohail said after being ruled out of the tour. "I am disappointed that my tour has been cut short, but I will return to Lahore and undergo a rehabilitation programme so that I can fully recover for the 2021-22 season."
Sohail, who made his international debut in 2013, is considered one of the finest batters in Pakistan but was never able to cement his place. In 2015, he was "spooked" in his Christchurch hotel room and he returned home without playing for Pakistan after the frightful experience.
Earlier this year he was named in the Test squad for New Zealand, but he missed the training sessions and practice match owing to a thumb injury. He later turned up to play both the Tests and scored 3, 9, 1 and 15 before being dropped across formats.
In the last eight years, he has played 16 Tests (847 runs at 32.57), 42 ODIs (1685 at 46.80) and 14 T20Is (210 at 19.09, strike rate of 102.94).
Last year he pulled out of the England tour due to the Covid-19 pandemic as he decided not to stay in isolation, which was a mandatory quarantine period for all foreigners travelling to the UK.
Pakistan's three-match ODI series begins later today in Cardiff, which will be followed by three T20Is on July 16, 18 and 20. The side will depart for the West Indies on July 21 where they will play five T20Is and two Tests from July 27 to August 24.