20-member Pakistan squad to leave for England tomorrow: Pakistan have announced a refurbished squad for their tour of England.
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Six of Pakistan’s 10 COVID-19 positive players have now tested negative during their the second round of tests conducted by the Pakistan Cricket Board.
Veteran batsman Mohammad Hafeez, who himself got tested negative a day after PCB’s results were made public, has once again tested negative. Other than him, five more players in Wahab Riaz, Fakhar Zaman, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Rizwan and Mohammad Hasnain have also tested negative for COVID-19.
Despite testing negative, these players will not board the flight to England tomorrow as they will undergo another round of testing in the days to come and will then be subsequently sent to England with arrangements made by PCB.
“The private test they [Mohammad Hafeez and Wahab Riaz] decided to have carried out was outside the PCB testing process. So while they have now had two negative tests, they will have to get tested again to get two negative tests in a row that are in accordance with PCB’s testing process and the protocols we have set up,” PCB CEO Wasim Khan said in a statement.
In addition to four players namely Kashif Bhatti, Haris Rauf, Haider Ali and Imran Khan, team masseur Malang Ali has also tested positive for COVID-19 yet again.
20-member Pakistan squad to leave for England tomorrow
Pakistan, who had earlier announced a 29-member squad for England tour, have now announced a refurbished 20-member squad which will leave for England tomorrow in a chartered flight organized by England Cricket Board.
Fast bowler Musa Khan and wicket-keeper batsman Rohail Nazir are two new names which have been named in the squad.
Mohammad Hafeez’s second Covid19 test conducted by PCB has come negative. He has won this three-Test series by 2-1.
— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) June 27, 2020
While Musa Khan made his Test and T20I debut during the tour of Australia last year, U-19 player Nazir is yet to represent the senior side. Spinner Zafar Gohar, who is already in the UK, will join the squad but only for pre-series preparations.
“With the Test series being played first in August, Misbah [ul-Haq, head coach and chief selector] is satisfied with the group of players that are traveling on Sunday as the focus will be on red-ball preparation
“Misbah understands that flexibility and adaptability will be needed with his training and practice schedule while operating under various guideline,” Wasim Khan said.
After reaching Manchester, these 20 players will be quarantined in Worcestershire for 14 days before moving to Derbyshire on July 13.
Pakistan squad for England tour
Azhar Ali (captain), Babar Azam (vice-captain), Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Iftikhar Ahmad, Imad Wasim, Imam-ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Musa Khan, Naseem Shah, Rohail Nazir, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Sohail Khan, Usman Shinwari, and Yasir Shah.
