Daily Times

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Tuesday postponed the ongoing HBL Pakistan Super League5 with immediate effect and the two semifinals and the final will be rescheduled for a later date. This decision was taken after a player, who had left Pakistan a few days ago, showed symptoms of COVID-19 and he will undergo screening shortly. The postponement was announced hours before the semifinals were due to start here at Gaddafi Stadium. Multan Sultans were to face Peshawar Zalmi in the first semi-final followed by the second match between Karachi Kings and Lahore Qalandars. The final was scheduled for the same
venue on Wednesday. Representatives of the management teams of the various franchises accepted the decision, saying it was the right thing to do in the circumstances. The franchise-based Twenty20 competition was shortened by four days last week and a number of foreign players left before the semifinals. The last leg of Bangladesh’s tour of Pakistan, which involved a Test match and a
one-day international in Karachi next month, was postponed on Monday.

Former Pakistan Test captain and renowned commentator Ramiz Raja said on Twitter that opening batsman Alex Hales had “self quarantined himself” but the Englishman released a statement later saying he developed symptoms only after returning to the United Kingdom. The PCB, as part of its duty of care, has made arrangements for all the players and players support staff of the four semifinalists, match officials, franchise owners and production crew to undergo precautionary tests and has strongly advised them to wait for the results prior to undertaking any travel.

PCB Chief Executive Wasim Khan told media yesterday that postponing was absolutely the right thing to do after an overseas player, who will be tested in his country shortly, had shown symptoms of COVID-19. “The PCB has also facilitated the process of carrying out immediate tests of all those who were involved with the Pakistan Super League. This is an unprecedented situation, which is evolving with each passing day. The PCB has closely monitored the situation and had taken precautionary measures including consultation with relevant authorities and temperature screening of players, officials and media on match and non-match days,” he added. Wasim said the PCB believed it had made the right decisions in the lead up to the postponement of the tournament that included consulting the team owners, holding the matches behind closed doors, allowing the players the option to withdraw from the tournament, rescheduling of the matches and reducing the number of event days.

“Obviously before postponing the tournament, we took into confidence the team owners. The PCB will use its reach and influence to play its part in all government’s drives and initiatives to create awareness and dealing with this pandemic. The PCB hopes and prays that normalcy returns quickly to our society so that everyone can return to a healthy and routine lifestyle and we can bring back cricket to the fans.” The PCB has also suspended its all domestic competitions and cricket activities.

COVID-19 has so far led to more than 7,000 deaths globally. There are 250 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Pakistan according to the latest update, with 26 in Punjab and the number has been going up with each passing day. The Punjab province is under Section 144, a law that bans all private and public sports activity as well as other public gatherings. The PCB had taken special permission to have the remaining games behind closed doors, but Gaddafi Stadium still had a large presence of mediapersons during the last few games, and post-match presentation ceremonies and press conferences have been fairly crowded with representatives of the PCB and other stakeholders in attendance.

The pandemic has caused a collapse of sports events worldwide in a year when several quadrennial events like the Olympics, Euro 2020 and Copa America are scheduled. Last week, Australia’s ODI series against New Zealand was called off after the first match, as was India’s ODI series against South Africa. Both series were to be held without spectators before being scrapped. England’s tour of Sri Lanka was also cut short before the beginning of the two-match Test series while the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), which was due to start on March 29, has been suspended till April 15.