Inzamam-ul-Haq, the former Pakistan captain and selector, has slammed the Pakistan Cricket Board for its handling of the players who have tested positive for Covid-19.
On Tuesday, seven members from the Pakistan squad set to tour England were revealed to have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, taking their total number of infected players to 10. On Saturday it was announced that six of the 10 had returned negative tests following the second round of testing. They will, however, need to return two negative tests to travel to the UK.
Prior to the PCB’s announcement revealing the results of the second round of tests, Inzamam blasted the PCB, accusing the medical staff of ignoring players’ calls in the days following their tests. “The players who have tested positive would have thought that PCB is not supporting them at this difficult time,” Inzamam said on his YouTube channel.
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“My sources have told me that the PCB’s medical staff did not attend calls of these players during the past couple of days, which is a really bad attitude.”
Adding to all the uncertainty, it emerged earlier in the week that Mohammed Hafeez, one of the players that tested positive for Covid-19, conducted a second test privately, which returned negative.
That, Inzamam said, was particularly embarrassing to the PCB. “I would request the PCB to properly look after these players, because if you don’t, then incidents like Hafeez getting himself tested privately will happen,” he said.
“PCB should have kept these players [who tested positive] at the NCA [National Cricket Academy], because there is enough space there, rather than telling them to self-isolate at their homes. They are our players and we need to look after them so that they can fully recover.”
Once the first batch of the Pakistan squad land in Manchester on Sunday, they will have to undergo a 14-day quarantine period. In all, the tour comprises three Tests and three T20Is in August and September, with all six matches to take place behind closed doors.
