CWC 2023: Injured Pakistan Opener Fakhar Zaman, Fever-Hit Salman Agha Ruled Out vs Australia

Pakistan will not have injured opener Fakhar Zaman and all-rounder Salman Ali Agha available for selection for their ICC World Cup 2023 match against Australia in Bengaluru on Friday. Zaman is recovering from a knee injury while Agha is recuperating from a bout of fever.

"Fakhar Zaman is being treated for a knee injury, he is expected to be available for selection next week," Pakistan media manager said in a statement on Thursday.

"Salman Ali Agha developed a fever after last day's (Wednesday) training session and he is recovering from it. All other players in the 15-member main squad are doing well."

Zaman has played only match in the tournament so far, Pakistan's tournament opener against Netherlands at Hyderabad. He made 12 runs in that match.

Abdullah Shafique, who has replaced Zaman as opener, made 113 against Sri Lanka and 20 against India.

Viral Spread in Bengaluru

The ‘Garden City’ has witnessed several cases of viral fever in the past few months though it could have been a case of weather change that led to minor health issues to the members of the visiting team.

“Some players got fever in the past few days and most of them have fully recovered from it. Those who are in the stage of recovery remain under the team medical panel’s observation,” Ahsan Iftikhar told PTI on Tuesday.

He also confirmed that skipper and batting mainstay Babar Azam and pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi were doing fine.

"Those who are in the stage of recovery remain under the team medical panel's observation," a PCB spokesperson told Geo.tv.

Pakistan are currently fourth on the points table with two wins from three games while Australia have one victory from three.