PCB Doctor says Pakistan will be touring England despite the 'big risk' that is involved

Pakistan's tour of England in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic is a "big risk" but one that is necessary to help the country battle the crisis, a top medical official associated with its cricket board said on Monday. The official, Dr. Sohail Saleem, is the Pakistan Cricket Board's director of medicine and sports sciences.

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'It is a big risk': PCB Doctor

"During this pandemic it is a big risk but this tour is also necessary if cricket is to resume now. The tour is also important as it will also help the country get through the COVID-19 crisis," said Saleem during a media interaction. "We will get the results in 24 hours time and if the player tests positive he will be stopped from going to England and sent into isolation until he recovers properly," Saleem said.

He confirmed that the first COVID-19 tests had been performed on the players and officials going to England on June 28 in four different cities. The Pakistan squad of 29 players and 14 officials is due to take an 80-seater chartered flight to London where they will spend 14 days in quarantine at an isolated base camp in either Worcestershire or Derbyshire before moving to Manchester.

"This is the first time both teams will be playing in such isolated conditions before empty stadiums and after following so many SOPs, but the end result is necessary for the sport, which is they will provide entertainment to the people." "If a player tests positive during the tour he will be kept in isolation for seven days and if his second test is negative he can join the team again, but if he tests positive a second time, he will be sent back home," he explained."It's a good sign that some sports activities have resumed because at the end of the day, all of us have to fight through this pandemic".There is no crowd in football and there will be no spectators at cricket stadiums too," he said.

 
"The anxiety level of people sitting at home is rising, but cricket can be seen as lowering these," he further added.

However, what really puts the Pakistani team in a spot of bother is that three players of their 29-member squad including the likes of emerging batsman Haider Ali, pacer Haris Rauf and leg-spinner Shadab Khan have been tested positive for COVID-19. This was officially confirmed on  Monday.

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Pakistan tour of England 2020

The 1992 World Cup winners will be touring England for a three-match Test series that will be followed by a three-match T20I series from July 30 to September 2, 2020. Meanwhile, the PCB also announced that spin legend Mushtaq Ahmed has been named as the bowling coach for the upcoming tour while former captain as well as batting great Younis Khan has been appointed as the batting coach.

The PCB had said that taking into account the COVID-19 outlook in Pakistan in the coming weeks, the operational and logistical matters as well the observation that keeping players in a safe and secure environment would remain a challenge, which is why the PCB decided not to hold a training camp prior to their departure for England. Instead, the PCB asked ECB to prepare an itinerary which allows the Pakistan team to reach London early in June. The squad was originally scheduled to land in the UK on July 6.

(With PTI Inputs)

(Image Courtesy: AP)