LAHORE: Suffering from a tendon injury in his left knee sustained during practice in Galle, batsman Haris Sohail is returning home tonight to undergo rehabilitation here at the National Cricket Academy, an official announcement of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Wednesday.

No replacement for left-handed Haris has been announced as yet.

A fine middle-order batsman and slow left-arm orthodox bowler, Haris has cemented his place in the ODI side as all-rounder.

The 26-year-old player — yet to make Test debut — has hit seven half-centuries in 22 ODIs and holds an impressive average of 43.

However, his chances to play the five-match ODI series against Sri Lanka after the end of the ongoing three-Test series are not bright, as mentioned in his medical report revealed by the PCB.

“As tendon injuries often take longer to heal than muscle, there is a very little chance that he may be able to further participate in the ongoing Test rubber and his availability for the ODI series may also be questionable,” the PCB said.

“On June 16, Haris complained of left anterior knee pain, following a fielding practice session. An acute reactive patella tendinopathy was suspected. Despite a couple of days rest combined with treatment his symptoms did not improve.

“Subsequently, an ultrasound scan performed at Nawaloka Hospital in Colombo, which revealed a mild amount of fluid in the distal tendon indicating a reactive tendinopathy. There is discontinuity of some of the fibres with associated fluid, indicating the possibility of a very small tear of some of the fascicles of the patella tendon,” the medical report stated.

“That’s why the team management decided to send him back. His replacement shall be named in due course,” it concluded.

Published in Dawn, June 25th, 2015

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