South African pacer to miss PAK series due to injury

South African pace bowler Lungi Ngidi has been ruled out of the upcoming series against Pakistan due to the injury he suffered during the T20I game against Australia.

Minimum of 12 weeks of rest and rehabilitation needed for Ngidi 

Mohammed Moosajee, South Africa’s team manager updated the media about Ngidi’s injury. He said that the fast bowler fell awkwardly while fielding during the T20I against Australia last Sunday and underwent investigations and further assessments with knee specialists upon his return to South Africa.

Moosajee explained that the reports have revealed a significant ligament injury to the right knee and which he feels is of ‘significant nature”.

He further noted that it will require Ngidi a minimum of 12 weeks of rest and rehabilitation to make a successful return to play. This means that the South Africa player will miss the series against Pakistan.

Ngidi may return in March for Sri Lanka series

The injury to Ngidi has caused serious damage to South Africa’s world cup plans as the pacer is their leading wicket-taker in ODIs in the last year, with 26 dismissals at an average of 23.03.

Due to this injury, he will miss games that could have helped him for preparing for the ICC event in 2019 in England.

It seems that he will come back in the team for the matches against Sri Lanka but those five games will be the last international matches South Africa play before the world cup.

Faf du Plessis said on Monday that Ngidi was "100%" okay. Maybe he just really wanted to believe it. This throws a serious spanner in SA's World Cup prep. One thing that was certain was the four-pronged attack of natural wicket-takers. No more. Big Vern for Pakistan? #Proteas

— Lloyd Burnard (@LloydBurnard) November 23, 2018

Ngidi will also miss the Mzansi Super League. He plays for Tshwane Spartans in the league and thea team will now need to find a cover for the pacer.

Also read: Windies pacer suspended for 2nd Test vs BAN

South Africa to play 3 Tests, 5 ODIs and 3 T20Is

Pakistan will tour South Africa for a packed series which begins from December 26 with the first Test. The first ODI will be played on January 19th while the T20I series starts from February 01st.