A long-standing knee injury forced former Pakistan cricketer Shahid Afridi to pull out of the upcoming edition of Caribbean Premier League [CPL]. The fourth edition of the tournament is scheduled to start on Thursday (August 9).

The all-rounder was picked by Jamaica Tallawahs during the auction for this season. The 38-year-old will now undergo a rehabilitation process to fully recover from the injury that he sustained during his stint with Karachi Kings in the PSL, in March.

“Due to my knee rehab I’ll have to sadly miss out this year’s #BiggestPartyInSport with the @JAMTallawahs. I’ll be cheering for the team from home and I’m sure @simadwasim (Imad Wasim) will fill up for me,” Afridi tweeted.

The current season of the CPL will commence with the encounter between St Lucia Stars and Trinbago Knight Riders, the defending champions.

Afridi has previously deemed himself unavailable for the Hurricane Relief T20 Challenge, a charity match between ICC World XI and West Indies, in May. However, he later changed his decision and led the ICC World XI in the match at Lord's.

The former Pakistan captain is one of the five players that have taken more than 300 wickets in T20s. He also holds the record for the most T20I wickets (98).