LAHORE: Around 233 players of all the six franchises of the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) and the staff of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) are set to leave for Abu Dhabi on Wednesday morning from Lahore and Karachi on chartered flights to feature in the remaining 20 matches of the league which are likely to be held there tentatively from June 5 to 20.

However, their departure is conditional to their second negative Covid-19 test report.

According to the PCB, around 168 people will travel from Lahore on a chartered flight while 65 will leave for Abu Dhabi from Karachi. All the cricketers available in Pakistan for the league have been in quarantine at a local hotel since Monday where the second test of Covid-19 was conducted on Tuesday and their reports will come out before the planes depart for Abu Dhabi.

If any player or official’s result comes in positive he will not go to Abu Dhabi, the PCB said.

It may be mentioned here that the PCB had applied for the visas of UAE for 370 people including players, officials and broadcasters. The final schedule of the remaining league matches will be announced once the visas to the Indians and South Africans’ nationals are issued.

According to the PCB, the visas to the majority of the Indians and South Africans crew members have been issued and once all will be received, the final schedule of the league will be issued. For Indians and South Africans a ten-days quarantine period is compulsory because both the countries are included in the red-list of several countries due to the high number of Covid-19 cases. However, after eight days of quarantine they can start their duties under strict SOPs.

Published in Dawn, May 26th, 2021