(Reuters) – Afghanistan’s hard-hitting opening batsman Hazratullah Zazai will miss the remainder of the Twenty20 World Cup due to an abdominal muscle strain, tournament organisers said on Monday.
Zazai will be replaced by travelling reserve Gulbadin Naib in Afghanistan’s 15-player squad for the tournament in Australia.
Afghanistan are bottom of Group One with two points from three matches in the Super 12 stage. They lost to England and their games against New Zealand and Ireland were abandoned due to rain.
Afghanistan need to beat Sri Lanka on Tuesday and Australia on Friday to have any chance of qualifying for the semi-finals.
(Reporting by Manasi Pathak in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)
