Faheem Ashraf to miss at least three PSL games with hand injury

Faheem Ashraf is likely to miss at least the next three games for Islamabad United in the PSL after splitting the webbing between his index finger and thumb on his left hand during their five-wicket loss to the Lahore Qalandars on Wednesday night.

"Faheem suffered a laceration to the base of the left thumb. Suturing was completed in the ER, he was given antibiotics and paracetamol and discharged into our care," United physio Jason Pilgrim said in a statement.

Ashraf injured his hand while fielding at short fine leg during the fifth over of the chase, bowled by Hasan Ali. Ashraf had, by then, bowled his first two overs and bowled Fakhar Zaman before he walked off to get five stitches on his hand. He missed a major chunk of the game while getting medical attention and wasn't allowed to bowl again but seeing the nature of his injury as an extraordinary circumstance, the umpires and match referee allowed Ashraf to bowl his remaining two overs - the 14th and 17th of the innings - while going off the field in between and after because he couldn't field at all.

Ashraf conceded a combined 21 runs in those two overs and finished with 4-0-31-1. United now have to fill his position in the lower middle order with either Muhammad Musa or Akif Javed.

Ashraf has been one of the main players for United since 2018, having played 36 games until Wednesday with an impressive bowling average of 18.88 - the second-best in the league - and he is the fourth-highest wicket-taker in the league with a tally of 51 wickets and holds the tournament's second-best bowling figures, of 6 for 19. Over the last two seasons, his batting played a role in increasing the depth in their line-up.

United are among the few teams disturbed by the postponement and shift of the PSL from Karachi to Abu Dhabi. Their roster of local players remains intact but most of their first-choice overseas players, who were around before the postponement, are not available for different reasons. They bought Usman Khawaja to replace Alex Hales, but they are also missing out on Lewis Gregory and Phil Salt, and even South Africa's Janneman Malan, who couldn't get an NOC from his home board.