Peshawar Zalmi skipper Wahab Riaz and batter Haider Ali have tested positive for coronavirus, while Karachi Kings President Wasim Akram, too, has contracted Covid-19, sources said Tuesday, just two days before the start of the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
The total toll of coronavirus positive players for the Zalmis has reached four as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday confirmed the franchise’s Kamran Akmal and Arshad Iqbal had tested positive for COVID-19 and were replaced by players from the reserves pool.
The replacement, according to the PCB, will be temporary and the replaced players can re-integrate into the squad after completing isolation and receiv-ing negative PCR results.
PSL 2022 is set to begin in two days, January 27, at the National Stadium in Karachi, but several players and support staff have already tested posi-tive for coronavirus.
Four days back, the PCB said three cricketers and five members of the support staff from different franchises had tested positive for COVID-19.
The players and officials who had tested nega-tive have entered the biosecure bubble and they were allowed to resume training from January 24.
The PCB has said that each side will be allowed a maximum of 20 players at any given time and the player replaced will be allowed to rejoin the side but will require the event technical committee’s ap-proval.
The seventh edition of PSL will start on January 27 and Peshawar Zalmi will start its campaign on January 28 with a match against Quetta Gladia-tors.—Agencies
