Three cricketers and five support staff personnel have tested Covid-19 positive ahead of their involvement in the 2022 edition of the Pakistan Super League, the tournament director Salman Naseer confirmed on January 22
Naseer said the players and support staff members will be allowed to rejoin their teams and start training sessions from January 24, provided they return two successive negative tests for the virus.
Since last January 20, the Pakistan Cricket Board has conducted a whopping 250 pre-arrival tests for players, support staff and all else involved with the six franchises as they enter the hotel facilities designated for the tournament, reported ESPNcricinfo.
In a measure of how seriously the board is taking the Covid protocols for PSL 2022, it had also begun testing the hotel staff and its own officials as early as January 14. Those who returned positive were released from the tournament bubble and isolated separately.
“PCB remains committed to creating a safe and secure environment for all participants so that they can play and perform to the best of their abilities,”
Naseer said in a statement.
“In the environment that we presently live in, there will be positive cases, but we have robust health and safety plans to ensure the event is played and concluded in the 27 January to 27 February window.”
As reported by ESPNcricinfo, the PCB has also put in place a mandatory three-day quarantine before the four-day training period for teams in Karachi before the 2022 season.
There will 17 rounds of Covid RT-PCR tests conducted on everyone part of the bubble for the tournament. But most pertinent are the tests during the pre-tournament quarantine phase, where they will be regular checks, and only those who give two negative tests will be allowed to enter the bubble.
As an extra precaution, the PCB has looked to avoid last year’s situation and allowed PSL franchises to pick 20-man squads with the addition of reserve players for the competition. The PSL 2021 had to be suspended and partly shifted to the United Arabic Emirates after teams observed multiple positive cases.
