Wasim Akram, president of Karachi Kings and two players of Peshawar Zalmi Wahab Riaz and Haider Ali today tested positive for COVID-19.
Wasim Akram and the players of the PSL franchise have quarantined themselves after their tests for the virus were reported positive.
The 7th edition of the PSL is scheduled to start at Karachi’s National Stadium from January 27, 2022.
So far, the number of coronavirus positive players for the Zalmis has reached four as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed that Karachi Kings players Kamran Akmal and Arshad Iqbal had tested positive for COVID-19 and they were replaced with other players in the reserves pool.
According to PCB, this replacement 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 of PCB’s Chief Operating Officer (CCO) Salman Naseer, over 250 tests of players and organisers were conducted since Thursday and only eight people tested positive, including three players and five support staff members, who have been isolated.
COVID-19 protocols for PSL 7
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.
