LAHORE: Players of the Pakistan Test squad will attend a 10-day training and conditioning camp under bio-secure protocols at the National Stadium in Karachi from Wednesday ahead of the tour of the West Indies, the Pakistan Cricket Board said on Monday.

The camp will have 11 players named to the squad train alongside six additional players under coaches from the National High Performance Centre in Lahore including former Pakistan greats Saqlain Mushtaq, Mohammad Yousuf and Mushtaq Ahmed.

Four days after the conclusion of the camp, the 11 players will then fly to Lahore on July 21 where they will be put up in a hotel for a five-day isolation period ahead of their departure for Barbados on July 26 to play two Tests against the West Indies. The first Test begins from August 12 while the Pakistan Twenty20 team will be in action in a five-match series from July 27.

“The 25 players and player support personnel, along with five essential staff, on Sunday underwent Covid-19 testing and all have returned negative,” the PCB said in a statement. “As such, a 30-member contingent will assemble in Karachi on Tuesday where they will undergo second testing before the camp resumes on Wednesday.

“In addition to the 11 Test players, including Abid Ali, Azhar Ali, Fawad Alam, Imran Butt, Mohammad Abbas, Naseem Shah, Nauman Ali, Sajid Khan, Shahnawaz Dahani, Yasir Shah and Zahid Mahmood, the selectors have also invited six additional players. They are Akif Javed, Irfanullah Shah, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Hassan, Mohammad Umar and Saifullah Bangash.”

Published in Dawn, July 6th, 2021