High Performance Centre camp ends prematurely in seven days

A month-long ongoing camp at the National High Performance Centre (HPC) has ended prematurely in seven days, after a high-ranking official at the PCB headquarters was identified with the coronavirus.

A total of 24 cricketers were taking part in the camp, which included Azhar Ali, Abdullah Shafique, Abid Ali, Imran Butt, Asad Shafiq, Ahmed Bashir, Bismillah Khan, Fawad Alam, Hammad Azam, Haris Sohail, Hassan Khan, Irfan Ullah Shah, Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shehzad, Mohammad Abbas, Nauman Ali, Rehan Afridi, Sajid Khan, Salman Irshad, Saud Shakeel, Tabish Khan, Taj Wali, Umer Khan and Yasir Shah.

Meanwhile, PCB carried out 69 Covid-19 tests at the High Performance Centre in Lahore yesterday, which all returned negative.

People who took the tests included players, coaches and support staff present at the aforementioned camp. Cricketers who reside outside Lahore have been allowed to return to their respective cities. All the staff working at Gaddafi Stadium will undergo Covid-19 tests on Wednesday. Upon returning negative, they will be allowed to return to work from Thursday.

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According to sources, the board is planning to hold a national team camp at the National High Performance Centre from next week ahead of the upcoming South Africa tour.

The Pakistan men’s national cricket team will depart for Johannesburg on 26 March and will play three ODIs on 2, 4 and 7 April. Centurion will stage the first and third ODIs, while the second match will be played in Johannesburg. Following the 50-over matches, Pakistan and South Africa will feature in four T20Is.