World Cup 2019 | Afghanistan's Mohammad Shahzad ruled out due to knee injury, Imran Ali Khil called up as replacement

Afghanistan's wicket-keeper batsman Mohammad Shahzad ruled out of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup because of his aggravating knee injury which he picked up during the warm-up match against Pakistan.

The Event Technical Committee of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2019 approved Ikram Ali Khil as a replacement player for Shahzad in the Afghanistan squad for the remainder of the tournament, confirmed ICC.

During the very first World Cup warm-up match being played between Pakistan and Afghanistan, Shahzad scored 22 runs off 24 deliveries. However, in the seventh over he was forced to retire hurt because of discomfort in his left knee. 

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Shahzad later missed the second warm-up match which was against England but made a comeback in the team during Afghanistan's first two World Cup matches played against Australia and Sri Lanka. However, Shahzad was unable to leave his mark in either of the matches as he was out on a duck against Australia and scored seven runs against Sri Lanka. While the wicket-keeper batsman featured in their opening games against Australia and Sri Lanka, the aggravated injury has ruled him out of participation in the rest of the competition. 

Before making any replacement in the squad, it is mandatory that the Event Technical Committee approves that replacement. The Event Technical Committee of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2019 consists of Geoff Allardice (ICC, ETC chairman), Campbell Jamieson (ICC representative), Steve Elworthy (CWC representative), Alan Fordham (host representative), Harsha Bhogle and Kumar Sangakkara (both independent representatives). 

Afghanistan will now play against New Zealand on June 8. 

Earlier on June 1, Afghanistan showed a lot of character against reigning World Champions Australia in their ICC Cricket World Cup match at Bristol. 

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