Four players from Balochistan team test positive, Pakistan T20 C'ships matches rescheduled

Four players from the Balochistan squad tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, prompting the Pakistan Cricket Board PCB to reschedule matches of the National T20 Championship.

Four players from the Balochistan squad tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, prompting the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to reschedule matches of the National T20 Championship. The Board, however, did not name the players. It said all the other participants and their families underwent testing on Tuesday and have returned negative results.

“The four Balochistan players have been placed in a 10-day quarantine and all other players were asymptomatic and tested negative, and will continue to participate in the tournament,” the PCB said.

Balochistan was due to play Northern Punjab on Wednesday at the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore but that match has been rescheduled. Northern Punjab will now play Southern Punjab.

The PCB said the Balochistan-Khyber Pakhtunkhwa match on Thursday will be played as scheduled. Balochistan will beef up its squad with players from their Cricket Association Championship three-day tournament side. The player transfer will be from bubble-to-bubble but the replacement players will undergo RT-PCR testing as per the PCB COVID-19 protocols.

The PCB also confirmed that the players named in the Pakistan squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup will not compete in the national event after Thursday as they have to shift to a bio-bubble for showpiece as per the ICC regulations.

“Pakistan players and player support staff for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 will participate in the National T20 on 6 and 7 October. On 8 October, they will shift to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup bubble, being set up by the PCB as per the ICC regulations.” Pakistan's T20 World Cup squad, including 18 players and eight support staff, are due to leave for Dubai on a chartered flight on October 15.

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