Lahore: Six of the 10 Pakistan cricketers bound for England who tested positive for COVID-19 have now registered negative results on re-testing, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Saturday.
Mohammad Hasnain, Shadab Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Hafeez and Wahab Riaz, however, must return a second negative result before they can join the main squad of 20 players who will leave for England on Sunday.
“These players were asymptomatic, which means their chances of regaining complete fitness are higher and brighter than most,” PCB chief executive Wasim Khan said in a statement.
“As soon as these players test negative twice through the PCB testing process, they will be flown to England to join the squad.”
Meanwhile, the five others, who have tested positive again, has been advised by PCB's medical team to observe strict quarantine. Kashif Bhatti, Haris Rauf, Haider Ali and Imran Khan along with Malang Ali (masseur) have tested positive again.
All 18 players and 11 player support personnel who had earlier returned negative for COVID-19 on Monday in the first round of testing, returned the same result in the retests conducted on Thursday and hence have been cleared by PCB to travel to England.
Pakistan are scheduled to play three test matches and three T20 internationals behind closed doors in August-September, although the exact dates and venues have not been announced yet.
After reaching Manchester on Sunday, the players will undergo COVID-19 tests before moving to Worcestershire for a 14-day isolation period, the PCB said.
