Pakistan's spinning all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez has been ruled out of their limited overs series against Australia with injury, giving the national team's hopes of defeating their opponents a major jolt.
Hafeez split his left-hand webbing while fielding in a practice match in Sharjah on Friday. Pakistan chief selector Moin Khan said that the all rounder's loss was a big blow, just a day before the lone Twenty20 in Dubai on Sunday.
Moin said that Hafeez is an important player for Pakistan in Twenty20 and ODIs, adding that he injured his webbing and has been advised to take a two week rest, Sport24 reported.
The Twenty20 match is followed by three ODIs in Sharjah, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Moin said that the physician's report suggested a minimum two weeks rest, which ruled Hafeez out of the limited-overs part of the series against Australia. He added that the team management had thus unanimously decided that there was no point in retaining him on the tour.
Hafeez has so far played 149 one-dayers and 58 Twenty20 internationals, having taken 122 and 45 wickets in these formats respectively. He has also scored 4,338 one-day and 1,305 runs in Twenty20 cricket, the report added.