Babar Azam hints at Naseem Shah missing first few matches of 2023 World Cup, but Haris Rauf on track to full fitness

Pakistan captain Babar Azam has hinted at right-arm fast bowler Naseem Shah missing the first few matches of the 2023 World Cup. The 28-year-old's message came after Pakistan were knocked out of Asia Cup 2023 on Thursday.

Naseem's shoulder injury, suffered during the Super 4 clash against India, caused him to miss the crucial match against Sri Lanka. Hence, the management called up Zaman Khan as an injury replacement.

At a post-match press conference, Babar stated that Haris Rauf's injury wasn't as grave as Naseem's and that he should recover in time for the World Cup.

"Not telling you our Plan B now. But yes, Haris Rauf is not bad. He's just got a little bit of a side strain, but he's recovering before the World Cup. Naseem Shah also... they have a couple of miss matches, I don't know [how long] the recovery [is], but in my opinion, Naseem Shah also [will be] in the World Cup later on. But let's see."

Rauf, who earned the Player of the Match award in the Asia Cup 2023 match against Bangladesh for his four wickets, felt 'discomfort in his right plink' during the India clash. As a result, the right-arm speedster did not bowl on the reserve day against the Men in Blue.

"Sri Lanka played very well, better cricket than us" - Babar Azam

During the post-match presentation, Babar reasoned that a lack of good fielding and bowling in the middle overs cost them the match. He said:

"We just decided to bowl our best overs and asked Shaheen to bowl the second last over and believed in Zaman. Sri Lanka played very well, better cricket than us. We have not been up to the mark in the bowling and fielding. That is why we lost the match. In the middle overs, we did not bowl well. That partnership cost us. We started well, ended well, but middle overs were not great. We have lacked that."

India and Sri Lanka will play in the Asia Cup 2023 final on Sunday in Colombo.