Rahmanullah Gurbaz suffers injury scare in warm-up against Pakistan

Afghanistan’s Rahmanullah Gurbaz had to be carried off the field by his teammates after the opener took a crunching blow on his toe after being yorked by a Shaheen Shah Afridi inswinger in the warm-up encounter between Pakistan and Afghanistan at the Gabba on Wednesday.

Pakistan won the toss and opted to bowl and it didn’t take long for the returning Shaheen Afridi, playing his second match post injury, to strike. The left-arm seamer sent Gurbaz, Afghanistan’s trump card, back to the hut for a golden duck by trapping the right-hander plumb in front on just the fifth ball of the match.

Such was the vicious nature of the toe-crusher bowled by Shaheen that Gurbaz had to be carried off the field. The 20-year-old was in visible pain post the impact.

Afghanistan have not provided an official update on the nature of Gurbaz’s injury, yet, but the Mohammad Nabi-led side would be praying for the incident to be a minor one. Since Gurbaz’s T20I debut back in September 2019, no Afghanistan batter has scored more runs (828) than the 20-year-old. He also starred for his side in the Asia Cup last month, amassing 152 runs at a strike rate of 163.44.