10 players dropped from Pakistan's England tour over coronavirus: cricket board

Karachi: Ten players have been dropped from Pakistan's cricket team for its England tour after they tested positive for the coronavirus for a second time, officials said Saturday.

The 18-strong squad is due to leave Sunday and Pakistan Cricket Board chief executive Wasim Khan said the left out players could rejoin if they later test negative for the disease.

The 10 players to miss out are Haider Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Rizwan, Shadab Khan, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Kashif Bhatti, Wahab Riaz, Imran Khan, Mohammad Hafeez.

The PCB announced the name of 20 players who have been cleared to fly to England on Sunday to play three Tests and as many T20s against the English team.

Taking to Twitter, PCB named the squad which will be led by Azhar Ali and Babar Azam will be the deputy for the Test matches. The limited-overs team will be led by Babar.

Earlier the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) had confirmed that the Pakistan team will arrive in the UK on Sunday to start preparation for this summers tour of England. However, there is still no clarity on the dates for the series which the ECB are planning to announce the behind-closed-doors schedule in 'due course'.

"They (Pakistan team) will start a 14-day isolation period at Blackfinch New Road, Worcester before transferring to Derbyshire's The Incora County Ground on July 13 to accelerate their preparation ahead of the first Test, which will include two four-day internal warm-up matches," stated the ECB.

"All members of the tour party will have been tested prior to travel. Those who are testing positive for COVID-19 will not be permitted to travel with the advance group on Sunday," it added.

Pakistan squad

Azhar Ali, Babar Azam, Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Iftikhar Ahmad, Imad Wasim, Imam-ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Musa Khan, Naseem Shah, Rohail Nazir, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Afridi, Shan Masood, Sohail Khan, Usman Shinwari and Yasir Shah.