Stress fracture rules Usman Khan out of action

Usman Khan, the left-arm seamer of Pakistan, has been ruled out of any cricketing action due to the stress fracture of his back. The blow is a career-threatening one for the youngster as he had just embarked on his journey at the international level. He stunned Sri Lanka with his ability to swing the ball both ways and returned with the figures of 5/34. However, he would love to recover from his injury soon in what looks like a period of at least six months.

Usman picked up the injury during the nail-biting second T20I against Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi. He also missed the historic third and final game of the series which was played in Lahore at Gaddafi Stadium. He was brought into the ODI side to replace Mohammad Amir who sustained an injury during the 50-over series. Amir though is now fit and replaced him in the game played in Lahore last week.

It is disappointing for him

Usman Khan sustained an injury in Abu Dhabi and later it was confirmed lumbar-bone stress in his back. The bowler has a history of struggling with injuries as he was ruled out way back in 2013 after debuting for his country in T20 cricket. He has also sustained back injuries before and had missed a major part of the 2014-15 season due to that. The coach of Pakistan Mickey Arthur expressed his disappointment but also said that they will give him enough time to recover.

“It is disappointing but this [course of treatment] will give him the best chance of recovering as quickly as possible,” Mickey Arthur, the Pakistan head coach,” he said as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo. He also cleared that he was a little bit concerned with the spate of injuries to the top players like Babar Azam, Rumman Raees and Imad Wasim but was also confident that they would recover soon.

“A little bit, but a lot of them niggles just needed a bit of rest and that is why we have put such a lot of effort in working on our bench strength,” he concluded.