The Pakistan Cricket Board said today that its most experienced pace bowler, Umar Gul had been ruled out of the ICC Champions Trophy, to be held in England in June.
"Gul is out of the tournament because of a right knee injury that requires surgery in Melbourne," a PCB official said.
He confirmed that Gul, who is the leading wicket-taker in the present Pakistan team with 161 Test and 163 ODI scalps, would be leaving in early May for the surgery.
"The bad news is that he requires at least eight to 12 weeks to make a complete recovery from the surgery and for the rehabilitation process," the official said.
He said Gul had complained of a nagging pain in his right knee after the Test series in South Africa and missed the third Test due to pain.
"He had extensive tests in South Africa after he played in the first two One-dayers and MRI scans showed that he had damaged his medial meniscus and bone of the right knee.
"A MRI scan confirmed a full thickness tear of the posterior horn of medial meniscus with patchy bone bruising on his right knee," the official said.
The official said that Dr Alexander David Young will be performing the surgery and looking after the rehabilitation process of Gul.
A national selector said that since Gul's name was included in the Champions Trophy probables list of 30, they might well ask the board to get permission from the ICC for a replacement.
