PCB says most Pakistani players have ‘fully recovered’ from fever

Pakistan's Shaheen Shah Afridi (3L) celebrates with teammates after taking the wicket of India's captain Rohit Sharma during the 2023 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup one-day international (ODI) match between India and Pakistan at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on October 14, 2023. (AFP/File)
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  • Local media reported Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usama Mir and Abdullah Shafique were suffering from viral infection
  • Pakistan, who have won two out of their three World Cup matches so far, will face Australia on Friday in Bengaluru

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Tuesday clarified that most members of the World Cup cricket squad who were suffering from a fever had “fully recovered,” days before Babar Azam’s side meets Australia in a key clash of the tournament. 

Local media widely reported on Monday that key Pakistani players Shaheen Shah Afridi, Abdullah Shafique and Usama Mir were suffering from fever and a viral chest infection.

“Some players got fever in the past few days and most of them have fully recovered from it,” the PCB said in a statement. “Those who are in the stage of recovery remain under the team medical panel’s observation.”

The green shirts, who lost their World Cup clash against India on Saturday, face five-time World Cup winners Australia on Friday in Bengaluru.

Afridi, who leads Pakistan’s pace attack, has remained unimpressive in the three matches he has played so far, conceding 139 runs and taking only four wickets. 

Meanwhile, Shafique hit an impressive century against Sri Lanka on Oct. 11 while Mir is yet to play a World Cup match this year. 

With two wins and a loss so far, Pakistan are placed at number four in the World Cup rankings table. They face a resurgent Australia, who were beaten in their first two games against India and South Africa but managed to defeat Sri Lanka by five wickets on Monday.