LAHORE: After a successful experiment at a domestic tournament, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to adopt a corona-free policy for scheduled home series, starting from the matches against West Indies.
According to several media reports, players and coaching staff won’t have to live in the bio-bubble environment. A proposal will be sent to the Cricket West Indies (CWI) to play the series without taking COVID-19 measures.
Players and coaching staff will be free to interact with each other, and cricket will be played in a normal environment as before. The proposed planning will not include Covid-19 testing on the arrival of the West Indies team and every other day during the series.
Testing will only be done in case of any symptoms are shown by a player. In the case of a positive COVID result, the individual will be isolated for five days. The same policy will be adopted in all of Pakistan’s international series and domestic tournaments.
The PCB did not create a bio-secure bubble in the recently concluded Pakistan one-day cup. The players were personally advised to take precautionary measures. Not a single COVID case was reported during the 33 matches played in the tournament.
The National Command and Control Center (NCOC) has also been abolished, after which all government restrictions have been lifted. The situation with Covid across the country is much better now.
Meanwhile, in a video exclusively shared to a local daily, PCB chairman Ramiz Raja said the matches could be played in “normal conditions”. He, however, acknowledged the risk attached to taking the step.
“The only problem that may entail the decision is that if one player contracts Covid, the virus spreads so rapidly that it would be impossible to call replacements from so far away (the Caribbean),” he pointed out, adding that “It’s a double-edged sword.”
However, the “information we have received from our medical board shows that things can be a bit relaxed now since the virus isn’t that bad anymore,” the PCB chairperson added.
His statement comes after three players from the Australian team, which visited Pakistan after 24 years and concluded the tour yesterday, tested positive for the coronavirus.
