Shahid Afridi applauds the Pakistan supporters at the end of the third ODI against Australia. Afridi, seen here with a bandaged hand, injured his left hand during the match and will miss the first two matches of the T20 series against Australia. – Photo by AP
Shahid Afridi applauds the Pakistan supporters at the end of the third ODI against Australia. Afridi, seen here with a bandaged hand, injured his left hand during the match and will miss the first two matches of the T20 series against Australia. – Photo by AP

DUBAI: Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi is expected to miss the first two Twenty20 matches against Australia, starting Wednesday, following an injury sustained in the third one-day international.

Afridi injured his left hand while fielding off his own bowling during the final ODI that Pakistan lost on Monday. The 32-year-old split the webbing of his hand and was heavily bandaged during the remaining overs that he bowled.

The 50-Twenty20 veteran is most likely to miss the opening match on September 5 and the second on September 7, but may return for the final T20 on September 10.

Pakistan may opt for former captain Shoaib Malik, also an all-rounder, in place of Afridi in the opening match of the series.

Pakistan T20 squad: Mohammad Hafeez (capt), Imran Nazir, Nasir Jamshed, Asad Shafiq, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanveer, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Raza Hasan, Yasir Arafat, Mohammad Sami.

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