India, Jan. 8 -- Pakistan's T20 captain Salman Ali Agha has expressed optimism about Shaheen Shah Afridi's recovery from a knee injury, hoping the fast bowler will regain full fitness in time for next month's T20 World Cup. Afridi has been a key figure in Pakistan's pace attack, and his availability could be crucial for the team's chances in the tournament, being co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.

"We are hopeful he will be fit for the World Cup but the final decision will come from the (Pakistan Cricket) Board on advice from the medical panel," Salman told the media in Dambulla where Pakistan take on Sri Lanka in the first T20I on Wednesday.

Shaheen's rehabilitation is being supervised by the PCB's medical panel at the High Performance ...