Mumbai Indians’ Afghanistan spin sensation Allah Ghazanfar has been ruled out of action for up to four months, leaving the youngster out of the Champions Trophy tournament slated to begin next week in Pakistan. Ghazanfar has been replaced by Nangyal Kharoti in Afghanistan’s 15-member squad for the tournament, the Afghanistan Cricket Board announced on Wednesday.
AM Ghazanfar, has been ruled out of the ICC Champions Trophy due to a fracture in the L4 vertebra, specifically in the left pars interarticularis." ACB said in statement on Wednesday. "He (Ghazanfar) sustained the injury during Afghanistan's recently held tour Zimbabwe, and will be sidelined for a minimum of four months and will remain under treatment during this period," it added.Left-arm spinner Nangeyalia Kharote, who was originally in the list of reserves, has now replaced Ghazanfar in the main squad.
The injury is a huge blow for the 18-year-old spinner, who bagged his maiden IPL contract with Mumbai Indians for INR 4.8 crores, will miss the tournament scheduled to be played from March 21 to May 25.Afghanistan will have a four spinners in their squad that includes Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Mohammad Nabi and Kharote, who hasn't played for Afghanistan since the ODI series against Bangladesh in Sharjah in November last year.
