Pakistan cricket squad departs for England tour

ISLAMABAD: The 31-member of Pakistan cricket squad, including 20 players and 11 members of the support staff, departed for England on Sunday.

They are scheduled to play three Tests and three T20Is in a bio-secure environment, with dates of the matches to be announced soon.

Pakistan team leave for England 🛫 pic.twitter.com/7LAzwDozBn

— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) June 28, 2020

On a social media website Twitter, Pakistan’s premier batsman Babar Azam shared the pictures from the flight and wrote, “On our way to another historic Pakistan tour to England”.

“It’s always great to play in England and I look forward to getting on this journey with our talented bunch of players. Fans, as always we would be in need of your prayers, love and unconditional support. #PAKvENG #RiseAndRise,” he said.

On our way to another historic Pakistan tour to England. Its always great to play in England and I look forward to get on this journey with our talented bunch of players. Fans, as always we would be in need of you prayers, love and unconditional support. #PAKvENG #RiseAndRise pic.twitter.com/8KLFQjAYNU

— Babar Azam (@babarazam258) June 28, 2020

The Pakistan Cricket Board had initially planned to send a 29-member squad. However, 10 players tested positive for COVID-19 in the initial testing.

Besides the 29 members, tests of fast bowler Musa Khan and Pakistan U19 captain and wicketkeeper Rohail Nazir, along with three other reserve players, were also conducted on Thursday and they have also returned negative.

As such, Musa and Rohail have been included in the first group of travelers, which is: Players – 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.

Zafar Gohar, the left-arm spinner who played an ODI in 2015, will join the side from England and will only be involved in pre-match preparations.

Player support personnel – Mansoor Rana (manager), Misbah-ul-Haq (head coach), Younis Khan (batting coach), Mushtaq Ahmed (spin bowling coach), Shahid Aslam (assistant 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).

Cliffe Deacon and Waqar Younis will join the side directly from South Africa and Australia, respectively, while Shoaib Malik is expected to travel around 24 July.

Following advice from leading sports science experts and as per the UK government regulations, players who have tested positive during the PCB testing process will be unable to travel till officials’ approval.

However, they will be sent to England as soon as their two tests return negative, according to the PCB. Amongst the four reserves players, who were tested on Wednesday, only Imran Butt has tested positive, while the tests of Bilal Asif, Mohammad Nawaz and Musa Khan were negative.

Out of the 10 players and one official, who had earlier tested positive during the PCB testing program, six players have tested negative in the greatest. They are Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Rizwan, Shadab Khan and Wahab Riaz.

Players who have again tested positive are Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Kashif Bhatti and Imran Khan, along with Malang Ali (masseur).

The six players who have now tested negative will undergo a third round of testing at some stage next week and if their tests remain negative, then the PCB will make arrangements to send them to England.

The five players and the masseur, who have are positive, have been advised by the PCB medical panel to observe strict quarantine to protect their families and friends from the infection.

As in the past, the PCB medical panel will provide them complete support and continue to monitor their progress. These players will undergo tests following the completion of the quarantine period and will be sent to England following two negative tests.