Knee injury rules Mohammad Shahzad out of World Cup

Shahzad had picked up the injury in the warm-up clash against Pakistan. © Getty

Mohammad Shahzad has been ruled out of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 because of a knee injury, it was confirmed on Thursday (June 6). Ikram Ali Khil, the left-handed 'keeper-batsman, has been named a replacement for the 'keeper.

Shahzad had picked up the injury in the warm-up clash against Pakistan. Even though he played Afghanistan's both games so far - against Australia and Sri Lanka - he aggravated the injury and has been forced to leave the tournament. The opener scored a duck against Australia and then managed just seven against Sri Lanka as Afghanistan lost both encounters.

Khil made his ODI debut against Ireland in March this year and has played just two games. While he stayed unbeaten on five in his first ODI, he was dismissed for one in the second game after being pushed up the order. He also featured in the Test against Ireland in Dehradun and has played seven List A games.

Khil was part of Afghanistan's squad in the Under-19 World Cup last year and scored 185 runs in four matches at an average of 46.25 but had a poor strike rate of 59.87. He was also part of the Under-19 squad that played the world cup in 2016.

Afghanistan take on New Zealand in their next match on June 8 in Taunton and will look to resurrect their campaign after a poor start.