Injured Irfan out of World Cup

Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Irfan has been ruled out of the World Cup with a stress fracture of the pelvis. Pakistan's team management will call for a replacement only if the team wins Friday's quarter-final, against Australia in Adelaide, according to a PCB release.

The release said Irfan had undergone an MRI scan on Monday afternoon, which showed a stress injury of the pelvis but did not reveal the specifics. Pakistan's physiotherapist, Brad Robinson, then ordered a more detailed scan, which was done on Tuesday and confirmed a stress fracture.

"This injury rules Irfan out of the World Cup", Robinson said in the release.

The 7ft 1in Irfan has had trouble with his hip previously, suffering two fractures in the ischium bone of his hip in November 2013 that sidelined him till August 2014. In that period he had undergone extensive rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore.

He is the third player out of Pakistan's originally selected 15 to fall prey to injury, after Mohammad Hafeez and Junaid Khan. He had missed Pakistan's last group match, against Ireland on Sunday, due to the injury. Pakistan have preferred to play four specialist fast bowlers in this World Cup, meaning Ehsan Adil replaced Irfan for the Ireland game.