KARACHI: Karachi Kings’s President Wasim Akram and two Peshawar Zalmi’s players Wahab Riaz and Haider Ali tested positive for COVID-19 Tuesday, said sources.
The sources privy to the matter said that Wasim Akram and the players of the PSL franchise have quarantined themselves after their test for the virus came back positive.
It is a big blow for Peshawar Zalmi as its two key players tested positive for the COVID-19 days before the start of the mega event.
The seventh edition of the PSL is scheduled to kick off at Karachi's National Stadium from January 27.
It is pertinent to mention here that the total toll of coronavirus positive players for the Zalmis has reached four as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday confirmed the franchise's Kamran Akmal and Arshad Iqbal had tested positive for COVID-19 and were replaced by players from the reserves pool.
The replacement, according to the PCB, will be temporary and the replaced players can re-integrate into the squad after completing isolation and receiving negative PCR results.
According to a statement issued by the board, PCB's Chief Operating Officer (CCO) Salman Naseer, who is also the tournament director of PSL, had said that over 250 tests were conducted since Thursday and only eight people tested positive, including three players and five support staff members.
“As per latest results received, in over 250 tests conducted since Thursday, three players and five support staff members have tested positive and have been isolated,” Naseer had said.
With the seventh edition of the PSL about to begin amidst a renewed coronavirus outbreak in the country, the PCB had developed a new advisory policy for coronavirus SOPs that will allow each PSL team to hold 20 players.
The PCB will allow a match to proceed even if up to eight team players test positive out of a squad of 20. The eleventh and twelfth players will provide substitutes for the players who tested positive for COVID-19.
The match will be called off if nine members of the squad test positive for COVID-19. However, in the event of an emergency, it has been advised that 20 to 30 players be kept in the hotel's "secure bubble" by each team.
If a player tests positive for coronavirus, they will be required to isolate for ten days and a substitute will be taken from the secure bubble.