LAHORE: Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan faces a race against time to prove his fitness for the two-match Test series against the West Indies starting next month.

Rizwan is currently attending the ongoing red-ball training camp at Pakistan’s National Cricket Academy (NCA), which will begin on June 8 and continue till July 10.

However, reports suggest that the veteran wicket-keeper joined the camp a week later than planned and has since been rehabilitating under the supervision of the team’s medical staff.

As a result, he was sidelined from regular training activities and training sessions.

The Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) medical team is expected to assess Rizwan’s fitness on July 6, with the assessment set to determine his availability for the Caribbean tour.

Pakistan are expected to leave for the West Indies on July 13 ahead of the Test series. The team will play a four-day practice match from July 18 as part of their preparations.

If Rizwan fails to regain full fitness in time, wicketkeepers Ghazi Ghori and Rohail Naseer will be included as possible replacements in the tour squad.

Rizwan has been Pakistan’s most consistent player in Test cricket in recent years. In his last 15 Tests, he has amassed 1,157 runs, including one century and nine half-centuries, making him the country’s leading run-scorer in the format during that period.

The two-match Test series against the West Indies will be held in Trinidad and Tobago, with the first Test from 25 to 29 July and the second from 2 to 6 August.

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