New Zealand pacer in doubt for Champions Trophy 2025, scans to decide availability – India TV

New Zealand pacer Lockie Ferguson is in doubt for the upcoming Champions Trophy, slated to begin on February 19. The 33-year-old has hurt his hamstring during the ILT20 and underwent scans to determine its severity. He was leading the Dessert Vipers in their Qualifier 1 match against Dubai Capitals and during the last over, Lockie picked up the injury and couldn’t complete his quota of four overs.

The result of the scan is yet to be out and for the same reason, New Zealand head coach Gary Stead failed to provide an update on Lockie’s availability for the upcoming tri-series against Pakistan and South Africa and also for the marquee ICC tournament. He noted that the radiologist is yet to update them about the nature of the injury and after they are informed, the team management will take a decision on whether the pacer will travel to Pakistan.

“Lockie had a scan yesterday [Thursday] in the UAE. 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,” Stead said on the eve of the tri-series opener.

Notably, Vipers were closely monitoring on the workload management of all their pacers in the tournament. Ferguson featured in eight of the 12 games that they played. Highlighting that, the Director of Cricket Tom Moody previously mentioned that they had given rest to all the bowlers as physical and mental fatigue play a crucial role in modern-day cricket.

“We have tried to manage the players with rotation of quicks as much as we possibly can. 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,” Moody said in the Vipers Voices podcast in January.