Karachi Kings dealt with huge blow as Shahid Afridi sustains knee injury

The Pakistan Super League is in its final stages. While few matches were greeted with empty stadiums, it witnessed a few exciting finishes. Karachi Kings are all set to face Peshawar Zalmi in Eliminator 2 on Wednesday. Peshawar Zalmi pulled off a one-run win over Lahore Qalandars in Eliminator 1. Karachi Kings finished second in the league stage and lost the first playoffs against Islamabad United.

Karachi Kings’ talisman Shahid Afridi will not be available for today’s eliminator against Peshawar Zalmi. Afridi is suffering from a knee injury which will keep him out of action for a few games. On March 2, the veteran superstar Afridi injured his knee and went on to miss out the action of PSL. The injury of the superstar came as a major blow for the Kings as Afridi was the leading wicket-taker for the team in the tournament. The Pakistan superstar also underwent MRI scan for his injured knee at UAE.

Mukhtar Ahmed, Zulfiqar Babar, and Danish Aziz will be joining the Karachi Kings squad. The inclusion of Kings skipper Imad Wasim is not finalized yet. Afridi is playing for the Kings for the first time and had expressed his desire to play in the finals that are being held on March 25 in his hometown Karachi. On February 23, Afridi took a stunning catch at the boundary ropes to help his team beat the Gladiators.

A plethora of players missing; Bopara in line to lead

With Eoin Morgan refusing to travel to Pakistan for the final leg of the tournament, and if Wasim is ruled out as well, Ravi Bopara will lead the side against Darren Sammy and his men. Karachi will also miss the services of Tamim Iqbal who picked up a knee injury in the T20I tri-series in Sri Lanka.

Karachi Kings need to come up with something extraordinary to book a place for the summit clash. The absence of top players will surely have an impact on their chances. However, on a given day, one or two players can take away the game from the opposition.