Pakistan’s experienced all-rounder Muhammad Hafeez could find himself out of the upcoming World Cup after he underwent a follow-up surgery on his fractured thumb in Manchester earlier this week.
The 38-year-old Hafeez has been told to rest for two weeksbefore he can resume training of any sort.
The problem facing the senior player is that the nationalteam head coach Mickey Arthur has set April 14 as the deadline for the playersto undergo their final fitness tests before considering for World Cupselection.
The Pakistan squad is also due to leave early for England —around April 24 — to play practice games, a five-match ODI series againstEngland and two warm-up matches against Bangladesh and Afghanistan before theWorld Cup kicks off on May 30. “Hafeez had to go for the second surgery asthe fracture in his left thumb had not healed properly and the surgeon MikeHayton had advised him for a follow-up procedure,” one source close to theformer skipper said.
An official in the Pakistan Cricket Board said if the head coach and chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq wanted, they could allow Hafeez to recover completely and take his fitness test later on after the deadline for all the players.