Pakistan suffered a major blow ahead of their tour of Ireland and England as their key leg-spinner Yasir Shah has been ruled out of the tour due to an injured hip bone. Chief selector Inzamam Ul Haq confirmed that the 31-year-old will not be available during their upcoming outings.

“Yasir is ruled out of the Ireland and England Test tours and it's a big blow,” Inzamam reportedly said. “It's a big loss for the team.”

Inzamam further confirmed that teenage Shadab Khan, Bilal Asif, and Kashif Bhatti have been included in the squad in order to fill in the gap. Shadab has played one Test for Pakistan and the others are yet to get a breakthrough in the national side.

Yasir will need four weeks of rest and another six weeks of rehabilitation to recover from the groin injury, meaning he will miss the next ten weeks’ action while Pakistan will take on two different opponents in three Tests.