Lockie Ferguson in doubt for New Zealand’s Champions Trophy campaign and Pakistan tri-series

With Capitals needing one off the final ball, Sikandar Raza whipped Amir away for four to seal DC’s spot in the final. At the post-match presentation, Ferguson said, “just a little hamstring issue, unfortunate. Tough night; wish I could’ve bowled the last ball.”

Ferguson underwent a scan the next day, according to New Zealand head coach Gary Stead, to determine the severity of the injury. New Zealand are still awaiting more details.

“Lockie had a scan yesterday [Thursday] in the UAE,” Stead said on the eve of the tri-series opener.” We’ve got the images here and [we are] waiting for our radiologist to give us a report on the extent of it. Small hamstring injury, by the look of it, so we’re just waiting on a timeline of advice around that before we make a decision on whether Lockie travels here [Pakistan] or whether we do have to replace him for the Champions Trophy.”

Ferguson is the most experienced quick in New Zealand’s squad for the Champions Trophy and his potential absence might disrupt their prep for the competition. Ben Sears, the Wellington tearaway, is working his way back from knee surgery, which had sidelined him for the Test tour of India and then the home series against Sri Lanka and England. Sears has played 17 T20Is and one Test so far but is uncapped in ODI cricket.

In his first stint at the ILT20, Ferguson featured in only eight of Vipers’ 12 matches so far, with his workload being monitored.

“We have tried to manage the players with rotation of quicks as much as we possibly can,” Tom Moody, Vipers’ director of cricket, said in the Vipers Voices podcast in January. “Lockie Ferguson, Mohammad Amir and Luke Wood, today, have all had a chance to rest and freshen up. But yes, it is a pretty tough schedule and there is an element of physical fatigue but probably, more importantly, mental fatigue.

“And there has not been that chance to really disengage and freshen up mentally. But that is the reality of tournament cricket. Everyone is trying to fit in a tournament within a certain window. And what comes of that is a pretty heavy schedule. And we came in expecting that, knowing that.”

“I think it [selection] will depend on how people shape up, especially the bowlers after this first game and what their loads are like and then what the conditions are like as well,” Stead said. “It’s not quite as hot as you think it would be in Asia. It still gets pretty cold here in the evenings, so but if you bowl in the heat of the day, it might take more out of the bowlers. So, we will just manage that and be smart around it, understanding that the big tournament is the Champions Trophy. We want to make sure everyone is fit and firing for that.”

While all eight teams have already named their Champions Trophy squads, they still have until February 12 to make changes if needed.