Seven more Pakistan players test positive for Covid-19 ahead of England tour
Published on: Jun 23, 2020 8:14 pm IST|Updated on: Jun 23, 2020 8:42 pm IST
In one of the shocking update, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in their latest press release have revealed that seven more Pakistan players who were set to tour England next week have been tested positive for the deadly coronavirus. The news came in just one day after three notable players namely Shadab Khan, Haris Rauf, and Haider Ali were tested positive for the same.
Seven more Pakistan Players tested COVID positive
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Tuesday announced that the results of the 35 COVID-19 tests that they conducted in Karachi, Lahore, and Peshawar respectively on Monday are out and out of those 7 prominent Pakistan players and a player support personnel have been tested positive for the virus.
The board conducted these tests as a safety measure under the instruction of the medical department before they left for England on 28th June for series comprising of three tests and three T20Is.
The seven infected players are Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Hasnain, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Hafeez, Wahab Riaz, Imran Khan. Among the support staff, Malang Ali, the masseuse, has also been affected.
Further seven players from the Pakistan squad have tested positive – Fakhar Zaman,Mohammad Hafeez,Imran Khan,Kashif Bhatti,Mohammad Hasnain,Mohammad Rizwan and Wahab Riaz – wishing them a speedy recovery too!
— zainab abbas (@ZAbbasOfficial) June 23, 2020
“The PCB medical panel is already in contact with these players and the masseur, who have been instructed to observe strict quarantine at their homes for their and their families’ wellbeing,” the board said in a release.
England series in doubt
Earlier this month Pakistan Cricket Board named a 29-member squad for the tour of England set to start in August but the growing positive cases among the members of the squad are going to create panic among other players and in the English dressing room as well. Yesterday 3 players namely Shadab Khan, Haris Rauf, and Haider Ali were also tested positive for the same. This makes the total number of COVID-positive players in Pakistan’s squad to ten. According to PCB, these 10 players who are tested positive can still make it to the squad provided they recover after going into home quarantine for 14 days. But the sudden unavailability of players and the growing fear of it spreading may force both the cricket boards to postpone the tour.
Available Pakistan players and Staff
Players who have tested negative are Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Iftikhar Ahmad, Imam-ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Naseem Shah, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Sohail Khan, Yasir Shah, Imad Wasim, and Usman Shinwari.
Player Support Personnel who have tested negative are Mansoor Rana (manager), Misbah-ul-Haq (head coach), Shahid Aslam (assistant to head coach), Younis Khan (batting coach), Mushtaq Ahmed (spin bowling coach), Abdul Majeed (fielding coach), Talha Butt (team analyst), Yasir Malik (strength and conditioning coach), Dr. Sohail Saleem (team doctor), Lt Col (retd) Usman Riffat (security manager) and Raza Kitchlew (media and digital content manager).
Whereas the Pakistan veteran Shoaib Malik and coaches Cliffe Deacon and Waqar Younis who is currently outside Pakistan are yet to undergo the test.
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