Pakistan Team Leaves For England Tour:
With as many as 10 players disqualified after initially checking Covid-19 for positive, Pakistan has announced a new 20-man squad that will depart for their England tour on Sunday (June 28).Fast bowler Musa Khan and wicketkeeper Rohail Nazir are the news names on the pruned squad, nine down from the previously named 29-man squad.
Of the ten players in Pakistan who tested positive earlier, six have now tested negative. The players are Mohammad Hafeez, Wahab Riaz, Fakhar Zaman, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Rizwan, and Mohammad Hasnain — all of whom will now be tested “at some point” next week in a third round. If their tests come back negative, the PCB will make arrangements to send them to England.
“With the Test series being played first in August, Misbah is satisfied with the group of players that are traveling on Sunday as the focus will be on red-ball preparation,” PCB CEO Wasim Khan said. “Misbah understands that flexibility and adaptability will be needed with his training and practice schedule while operating under various guidelines.”
Even though Mohammad Hafeez and Wahab Riaz undertook personal Covid-19 tests outside of PCB’s process, and returned negative results, they are “deemed to have one negative test following a positive test” and will be required to return another negative test before joining the squad in England.
Bilal Asif, Imran Butt, Mohammad Nawaz — called earlier in the week as reserves — can’t find a place in the touring band. Shoaib Malik hasn’t been included in the 20-man touring squad but will join the team in England on July 24 after spending some time with his family in India as explained by the PCB earlier.
The players who have again tested positive are Kashif Bhatti, Haris Rauf, Haider Ali and Imran Khan, and are recommended to have strict quarantines. They will be sent back to England as and when two negative Covid-19 tests return.
“I want to reassure the players and the official left behind that the PCB will provide them best support and look after them during the quarantine period,” Wasim Khan said. “It needs to be remembered that these players were asymptomatic, which means their chances of regaining complete fitness are higher and brighter than most. As soon as these players test negative twice through the PCB testing process they will be flown to England to join the squad.”
On Sunday morning the 20 players along with 11 player support staff will fly to Manchester on a chartered flight. They’ll then be in Worcestershire for a 14-day isolation period before heading to Derbyshire on July 13.
