Unprecedented hotel room booking for Pak-Aus series

ISLAMABAD: Around 150 rooms have been booked on a major part of three floors to accommodate Pakistan and Australian cricket teams at a leading local hotel (Serena) in the city for the fifteen days of the first leg of stay for the opening Test of three-match series starting at the Pindi Stadium from March 4.

The News has learned from well-placed sources that the number of rooms booked has been unprecedented for a single event. “Never before such a big number of rooms have been booked for a single event. As many as 150 rooms have been booked for both visiting Australian and Pakistan teams. Since these rooms will be for single occupancy, requirements were to book in such big numbers,” the source said.

The major part of the three floors will be out of bound for every outsider due to COVID-19 Bubble requirements. “It is the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) that will be looking after the COVID-19 protocols during squads’ stay at the hotel. Some tight protocols will be in place during the Bubble and that includes no exposure or interaction with people outside the Bubble who may even be staying in the same hotel.”

Pakistan team members, not part of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) Play-Offs are to check-in the hotel on February 23 followed by three Australian team officials who are arriving in Pakistan from other countries. They will go through their three-day quarantine period in Islamabad, unlike the Australia cricket team that will have their quarantine in Australia before flying a charted plane to Pakistan. Even then every member of the Australian cricket team will have to spend one day in isolation on their arrival in Islamabad on their arrival. Australia cricketers are expected to arrive in the city in the wee hours on February 27 and would be free to follow their training schedule from February 28 onward. However, the traveling team as well as locals will have to clear all the COVID-19 related tests before getting mixed up with each other.

Australian cricketers will be accorded VVIP/State Guest status-getting top-notched security cover during their stay in Pakistan.

All the related security agencies have already finalized a comprehensive security plan to keep a tight check within hotels and all routes plying to Pindi Stadium where a Test match will be played.

Both teams will return to Islamabad on March 26 after playing two back-to-back Test matches in Lahore and Karachi. The second leg of stay in Islamabad will be for 15 days where both teams will be engaged in three ODIs and one-off T20.