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South Africa arrive for Pakistan tour after 14 years

By AFP
January 17, 2021

By News Desk

KARACHI: The South African cricket team arrived in Karachi on Saturday to play two Tests and three Twenty20 internationals on their first tour of Pakistan in 14 years.

The team, led by wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock, was whisked from the airport under state-head level security accorded by the hosts, the Pakistan Cricket Board.

The 21-member squad had two Covid-19 tests before their departure from Johannesburg which all came back negative, and they will be further tested on their arrival.

Officials say the squad will stay in individual isolation until the results of the first round of testing are released before they start training in a ground adjacent to their hotel. Pakistan and South Africa will play the first Test in Karachi from January 26.

The second Test starts in Rawalpindi from February 4 while Lahore will host all three Twenty20 internationals on February 11, 13 and 14. South Africa’s head coach Mark Boucher has showed satisfaction with the security arrangements in Pakistan.

“We’ve had our (security) guys go there (to Pakistan) and do a recce of the situation and they have said it is safe,” Boucher told reporters ahead of the team’s departure on Friday. “So from my side there are no issues, we have to get back there and start playing cricket,” said Boucher, part of South Africa’s last tour to Pakistan in 2007.

It is the first tour by a South African side to Pakistan since 2007 when the Proteas played five ODIs and Tests in the country. The team, led by Quinton de Kock, reached Karachi via a chartered flight and was to be tested for Covid-19 upon arrival.

The touring party had cleared two Covid-19 tests which took place on Tuesday and Thursday before boarding flight to Karachi. The players will stay in individual isolation until the results of the first round of testing are released.

Meanwhile, a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official confirmed to Geo News that those who returned with the first negative tests would be allowed to train at a cricket ground adjacent to the team’s hotel in Karachi. “The South African team will be training at the Karachi Gymkhana cricket ground from January 17-22 in a biosecure bubble before moving to National Stadium for a full-fledge training session,” said the official.

The visitors will also play a two-day intra-squad warm-up match during the training period at the Gymkhana ground. The South African squad, along with Pakistani cricketers, will undergo another round of Covid-19 testing before the first Test, which starts on January 26 at the National Stadium. The Pakistan team will arrive in Karachi on January 19 and begin training from January 21 at the stadium after clearing their first test.

Cricket South Africa has made one change in the touring squad ahead of departure to Pakistan. Seamer Ottniel Baartman was ruled out due to medical reasons of a separate nature, while Marco Jansen replaced him in the Test squad.

International cricket was suspended in Pakistan following a terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore in March 2009. Pakistan has gradually hosted teams again in the last five years before Test cricket was revived in late 2019 when Sri Lanka toured for two Tests.

South Africa squad: Quinton de Kock (captain), Temba Bavuma, Aiden Markram, Faf du Plessis, Dean Elgar, Kagiso Rabada, Dwaine Pretorius, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Rassie van der Dussen, Anrich Nortje, Wiaan Mulder, Lutho Sipamla, Beuran Hendricks, Kyle Verreynne, Sarel Erwee, Keegan Petersen, Tabraiz Shamsi, George Linde, Daryn Dupavillon, Marco Jansen

Furthermore, CSA will name its T20 squad later, while the 20-over match specialists are due to arrive in Pakistan on February 3.