Rashid Khan undergoes lower-back surgery, set to miss 2023/24 BBL for first time in 7 years

Rashid Khan has played 68 matches for Adelaide Strikers, picking up 98 wickets.

Rashid Khan undergoes lower-back surgery, set to miss 2023/24 BBL for first time in 7 years

Rashid Khan in action (Image via Adelaide Strikers)

Leg Spinner Rashid Khan is regarded as one of the best leg spinners in the world. In his 8 years of playing T20 cricket, he has picked up 556 wickets. He has won the IPL once with Gujarat Titans, BBL with Adelaide Strikers, PSL with Lahore Qalandars and the MLC with MI New York. Often playing for franchises around the world, it now looks like Khan will miss the 23/24 Big Bash due to injury. 

In a statement released by Adelaide Strikers, the team Khan has played for since 2017, has announced that the leg spinner will miss the Big Bash League due to injury. The Adelaide based team said Khan had a minor back injury, due to which he will undergo surgery. Khan had earlier threatened to boycott the BBL as the Australian team canceled their ODI series with Afghanistan over the treatment of women in Afghanistan. 

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The team has not announced any replacements yet, but are searching for one. In the 7 seasons Khan has played for the Strikers, he has taken 98 wickets in 69 matches with an average of 17. 51. He was supposed to play only 8 matches in the 2023/24 BBL, as he was supposed to travel to South Africa to participate in the SA20, where he captains MI Cape Town. In the 2023 SA20, he managed to pick up 10 wickets in 10 matches while scoring  52 runs. 

Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne to play BBL despite Test series against Pakistan 

The Pakistan Cricket Team will travel to Australia after 4 years to play one First Class Match and 3 Tests. The last time they played in Australia, they lost the 2 match series. Despite such an important Test series, Marnus Labuschagne and Usman Khawaja will play for Brisbane Heat in their first match. 

Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne
Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne during the 2023 World Test Championship Finals (Image via ESPN)

Labuschagne and Khawaja, who are key players of the Test side, will play Heat’s first game of the BBL against Melbourne Stars on 1st December. This match is exactly one week before the first Test, which will be played in the Gabba, Brisbane.  

Australian players Michael Neser, Matthew Renshaw, Jimmy Peirson and Nathan McSweeney will miss the first few matches as they play for the Prime Minister’s XI against Pakistan. Meanwhile Haris Rauf withdrew from the Pakistan Test Team as he wanted to play in the BBL. 

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