Pakistan confirm 20-man squad which departs for England on Sunday

The Pakistan Cricket Board confirmed on Saturday the 20-man squad which travels to England for a three-Test and three-T20I series scheduled to be played in August and September.

“The squad will head towards Worcestershire where they will undergo the England and Wales Cricket Board testing before completing their 14-day isolation period, during which they will be allowed to train and practice,” the cricket board mentioned in its press release. “The side will move to Derbyshire on July 13.”

Eighteen players which were tested negative for Covid-19 earlier in the initial test by the PCB have again tested negative in the retest which took place on Thursday. 

Pakistan squad: 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.

20 players to travel to England on Sunday. More details to follow shortly. pic.twitter.com/p9PPRWGd95

— PCB Media (@TheRealPCBMedia) June 27, 2020

“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 on Sunday,” the press release stated.

Six out of the 10 players — Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Rizwan, Shadab Khan and Wahab Riaz — tested negative in the retests. “They will undergo 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.”

PCB Chief Executive Wasim Khan said that he was aware that all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez and pacer Wahab Riaz took personal tests outside of the board’s process ahead of the second PCB testing.

“While their results came up negative, as per the PCB testing programme, they are deemed to have one negative test following a positive test. Therefore, once they are retested and receive a second negative result under the PCB testing programme, they will be available to join the squad in England.”