HARARE: Two Zimbabwe cricketers have tested positive for the coronavirus (Covid-19), although neither of them are with the team on the tour of Pakistan and they did not come into contact with any of the traveling squad, Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) said late on Thursday.

Wicket-keeper Regis Chakabva and batsman Timycen Maruma tested positive after being room-mates for a week at the Zimbabwe cricket academy in Harare. They were on standby for the Pakistan tour in case any players dropped out but weren’t staying with the main squad, which was in a sealed-off wing of a hotel before flying to Pakistan this week.

Two support staff members at the academy also tested positive and it has been closed for disinfection.

Zimbabwe’s squad all tested negative for the virus on arrival in Islamabad, according to ZC. They will be tested again on Tuesday after a week of quarantine. The visitors will play Pakistan in three One-day Internationals starting in Rawalpindi on Oct 30, followed by three Twenty20 Internationals in Lahore.

Published in Dawn, October 24th, 2020