LAHORE: The Pakistan squad was cleared to fly to South Africa after all members of the squad tested negative for the coronavirus, announced the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Thursday.
"All 35 members of the Africa-bound side, including 22 players and 13 officials, have tested negative and, as such, the side will depart for Johannesburg, South Africa, on a chartered flight on Friday morning," read the PCB statement.
One member of the squad had tested positive for coronavirus days before the team was supposed to enter the bio-secure bubble set up for the tour.
"A total of 35 tests were conducted on the South Africa-bound Pakistan men’s national cricket team on Tuesday, 16 March. All squad members have tested negative, except for one player," said the PCB in a statement.
The PCB did not identify the player who tested positive.
Following the negative tests, the team entered the bio-secure bubble last week and trained at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
In South Africa, Pakistan will play three ODIs from April 2-7, the matches will be counted in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League. After that, the team will play four T20Is against the Proteas from April 10-16.
After the end of the South Africa tour, the team will then go to Harare, Zimbabwe, where they will play three T20Is and two Tests. The squad will then return to Pakistan on May 12.
Squads:
T20I: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Arshad Iqbal, Asif Ali, Danish Aziz, Faheem Ashraf, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sharjeel Khan and Usman Qadir.
ODI: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Abdullah Shafique, Danish Aziz, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Usman Qadir.
Test: Babar Azam (captain), Mohammad Rizwan (vice-captain), Abdullah Shafique, Abid Ali, Azhar Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Imran Butt, Mohammad Nawaz, Nauman Ali, Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shahnawaz Dahani, Tabish Khan and Zahid Mahmood.
Players Support Personnel: Mansoor Rana (Manager), Misbah-ul-Haq (head coach), Abdul Majeed (fielding coach), Cliffe Deacon (physiotherapist), Col (retd) Khalid Mahmood (security manager), Malang Ali (masseur), Raza Kitchlew (Digital and media manager), Dr Riaz Ahmed (team doctor), Shahid Aslam (assistant to head coach), Usman Hashmi (analyst), Waqar Younis (bowling coach), Yasir Malik (strength & conditioning coach) and Younis Khan (batting coach).
South Africa tour schedule:
April 2 - 1st ODI; SuperSport Park, Pretoria
April 4 - 2nd ODI; Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
April 7 - 3rd ODI; SuperSport Park, Pretoria
April 10 - 1st T20I; Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
April 12 - 2nd T20I; Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
April 14 - 3rd T20I; SuperSport Park, Pretoria
April 16 - 4th T20I; SuperSport Park, Pretoria