Pakistan confused on Yasir Shah's injury

Pakistan confused on Yasir Shah's injury 

New Delhi: Pakistan’s torrid tour down under took an even more disastrous turn on Wednesday when their confused approach on Yasir Shah led him to a low-grade hamstring injury. 

An insult to injury is perhaps the last thing a professional thinks off- in Yasir Shah’s case it was the vice-versa, literally. Shah, arguably Pakistan’s best spinner on tour has not enjoyed the best of times in Australia and the second day of third Test will be one he would not like to remember- largely because of some bizarre tactics from the Pakistan think tank.

Shah had problems during the warm-ups ahead of the start of play. But Pakistan chose to risk their premier spinner, with captain Azhar Ali giving him a 10-over long spell in the morning session without much success. The result, Shah did not take the field after lunch. 

Amazingly, Pakistan are still unaware of the extent of damage on Yasir Shah.

“He is telling us he has got some pain in his hamstring which he did when he chased the ball towards the boundary yesterday," Mickey Arthur, the Pakistan coach was quoted by ESPNcricinfo. “Our physios have worked probably a whole day with him.”

"We tried to get through the morning session with him and he did it, and he did admirably and he carried on and he got through the session. Had a lot of treatment again during lunchtime and then just could not get through. So instead of having him on the field at 50% we left him off and Azhar [Ali] again stood up and did a great job," said Arthur.

There have been instances in the past when Pakistan’s confusing approach led their players to injuries. As Azhar Ali and Younus Khan fight to avoid a white wash, one hopes Yasir Shah does not add to that list.