Rashid Khan has been ruled out of the first two ODIs against Sri Lanka with a lower-back injury, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) confirmed.
The ACB stated that Rashid “will remain under full medical observation, and is expected to return for the final ODI on June 7”.
The three-match series begins on Friday, June 2, in Sri Lanka. The second game will be played two days later at the same ground.
Rashid played in the IPL, for Gujarat Titans, which lost the final to Chennai Super Kings on Monday night. He was the tournament’s joint second-highest wicket-taker with 27 strikes.
In Rashid’s absence, Mohammad Nabi and Noor Ahmad will have to shoulder extra responsibility in the spin department.
Noor also had a successful IPL stint for Titans, grabbing 16 wickets from 13 games at an economy of 7.82. However, he has played only one ODI and one T20I for Afghanistan.
Last month, Afghanistan announced a strong 15-member squad, led by Hashmatullah Shahidi, for the Sri Lanka ODIs.
Having sealed direct qualification for the upcoming ODI World Cup, Afghanistan will be looking at this series to get their preparations going for the key event. Sri Lanka, meanwhile, will treat it as a build-up for the Qualifier tournament in Zimbabwe, starting on June 18, ESPN reported.
