ISLAMABAD: Spinner Shadab Khan was recently diagnosed with a virus-related illness that ruled him out of the England ODIs and has threatened his participation in the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup.
Sources familiar with the matter confirmed that the leg-spinner had contracted hepatitis C, which required him to undergo treatment and rest for at least two weeks.
It has now emerged that the teenager contracted the virus during a visit to a dentist. According to sources close to Shadab, he complained of a tooth-related issue and paid a visit to a dentist in Rawalpindi, where he contracted hepatitis C from contact with dental tools that had not been sterilised.
Ahead of the team’s departure to England, the Pakistan Cricket Board’s medical panel sent the cricketers’ blood samples to the Shaukat Khanum Hospital’s laboratory for routine tests. It was then that Shadab Khan’s sample tested positive for hepatitis C, the sources said. He was re-tested to confirm the diagnosis.
Shadab underwent treatment in London and has returned home for another round of blood tests in Lahore over the next few weeks, which will determine his fitness for the World Cup.
PCB sources said the treatment usually lasts around three months, but if Shadab does not experience any weakness then he may be able to play in the World Cup. However, he will be required to continue taking medicines for at least three months.
Shadab was the only specialist spinner in Pakistan’s squad for the England series. He has been replaced by fellow leg-spinner Yasir Shah.
