While the first Test match between Pakistan and Australia is expected to be resulting in a draw after some strong resistant from the Australian opener Usman Khawaja and his fellow partners, the hosts will be facing a huge blow in the second Test. Their opener Imam-ul-Haq has been ruled out of the final Test of the series due to a fractured finger. He hurt the fifth finger of his left hand while fielding during the final day’s play of the ongoing Test and after a few scans, it has been revealed that there is a crack. 

Imam’s injury has come at a wrong time for Pakistan as he was looking in good form. He had notched up the scores of 76 and 48 in the two outings in the first game and would’ve played a crucial role for his team. The second innings has been a bit painful for the cricketer as he had to field without his specs as well. On the fourth day, his spectacles broke and it was difficult for him to cope up without it.

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However, Imam’s injury weakens the strong top-order of Pakistan come the second Test. The news of him getting ruled out of the series was confirmed by Geo News who had also earlier reported that the cricketer was doubtful for the next match.

Imam-ul-Haq’s injury will give a great opportunity to Fakhar Zaman now to replace him as an opener and score big. He is the only other opener in the squad and the southpaw will be looking forward to making his Test debut in Abu Dhabi. Fakhar is coming off a poor Asia Cup and was immensely criticized a lot for his poor performance and this is a brilliant opportunity for him to rejuvenate himself and make the opportunity count.

The second and final Test match of the series will be commencing on October 16 and both the teams would be keen to win the series depending on the result of the Dubai Test.