The Pakistan Super League was postponed in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo Credit: Twitter)
New Delhi:
The Pakistan Super League was the last mainstream cricketing event to be postponed in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) conducted tests on players, support staff, match officials, broadcasters and team owners. On Thursday, it confirmed that all 128 coronavirus pandemic tests involved in the Pakistan Super League were all negative. Multan Sultans underwent the coronavirus tests on Monday and even they turned out to be negative. Speaking about the development, PCB CEO Wasim Khan said it was very satisfactory that the Tests were negative.
"It was absolutely critical for the integrity and credibility of the HBL Pakistan Super League and the Pakistan Cricket Board that all players, support personnel, broadcasters and match officials, those who had decided to stay back till the end of the tournament, tested negative for COVID-19. In this background, the PCB is pleased with the outcome of the results and happy that all these players and officials have rejoined their families without any health and safety doubts or concerns," Wasim Khan said.
The Pakistan Super League was postponed after the final league games were completed, with matches in Karachi played behind closed doors due to the city being the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic in Pakistan. The 25 remaining foreign players, support staff and match officials have already departed for their respective destinations.
Alex Hales, the England cricketer who represented Karachi Kings in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), had tested positive for Covid-19, claimed several reports on Tuesday. Meanwhile, PCB postponed the T20 league hours before the semifinal was scheduled to be played. While, the Pakistan Cricket Board did not reveal the player's name it confirmed that one overseas player was suspected to to have coronavirus and flown out of Pakistan.
A report in Gulf News identified the player as Hales saying the England player has tested positive. Several other reports including one quoting former Pakistan player Rameez Raja also identified the cricketer as Hales. According to gulfnews, all players and broadcasters are now being tested for the virus as a precautionary measure. Rameez Raja on Tuesday claimed that Hales might have shown symptoms of the COVID-19 before flying back. Raja made the statement while talking to the media in Lahore after the PSL was postponed on the day of its semifinal matches and a day before the final.
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"What I know is that he is yet to have tests but we don't know whether the symptoms he has is of Corona or not. But we all now need to be very cautious and obviously adopt a common sense approach to deal with this problem," Raja said. Raja also felt that PCB had taken the right decision to postpone the event, which was to have its semifinals on Tuesday in Lahore. British media confirmed that the 31-year-old Hales has reportedly gone into self-isolation after reaching England.
