The Pakistan cricket team consisting of 20 players and 11 support staff have left for their historic England tour. Last few days for the Pakistan players were hectic as they underwent several COVID-19 tests. Now finally the Pakistan team are all set to play three Test matches and three T20Is in a bio-secure environment. The England Cricket Board has already stated that they will provide all the safety measures to each player to protect them from the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the testing of the players, 10 were found positive as a result only 20 players have departed for England. However a total of six players where tested negative after completion of their second test. Fakhar Zaman, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Hasnain, Shadab Khan and Mohammad Rizwan were the six players.
Pakistan Cricket Team departs for England
Pakistan team leave for England 🛫 pic.twitter.com/7LAzwDozBn
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) June 28, 2020
Pakistan ODI and T20 skipper Babar Azam took to twitter and posted a photo with his teammates from the flight.
“On our way to another historic Pakistan tour to England. It’s always great to play in England and I look forward to get on this journey with our talented bunch of players. Fans, as always we would be in need of you prayers, love and unconditional support. #PAKvENG #RiseAndRise”, he captioned his post.
On our way to another historic Pakistan tour to England. Its always great to play in England and I look forward to get on this journey with our talented bunch of players. Fans, as always we would be in need of you prayers, love and unconditional support. #PAKvENG #RiseAndRise pic.twitter.com/8KLFQjAYNU
— Babar Azam (@babarazam258) June 28, 2020
The Pakistan team will arrive in Manchester and will be freshly tested for COVID-19 in Worcestershire. They will also complete a necessary 14 days quarantine period before resuming their training to play the series. Before the Pakistan and England series, the hosts will play a three-Test match series against West Indies starting from July 8.
Here are all the names of the players that have taken the flight to England:
Azhar Ali (Test captain), Babar Azam (ODI/T20I captain), 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 Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Sohail Khan, Usman Shinwari, and Yasir Shah.