Bio-secure bubble not breached in Pakistan: PCB

The three-match One Day International series between Pakistan and West Indies have been called off due to a Covid outbreak in the visitors’ camp, both the boards announced it in a joint statement on Thursday.

However, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chief Executive Officer Salman Naseer believes that there is a high probability that the visiting players contracted the virus on their way to Pakistan as they were in a bio-secure bubble after reaching the country.

“The bio-secure bubble created by the PCB had not been breached,” he maintained. “Some West Indian players flew in from Dubai after featuring in the T10 league, while the others arrived from Sri Lanka, where they were playing a Test series.”

Naseer further emphasised that this postponement will not impact Pakistan’s upcoming home assignments, including the Pakistan Super League, which is planned to go underway from January 27 and Australia’s tour in March next year. “It was for no fault of ours,” he said.

Both cricket boards decided to reschedule the series for June next year, which was originally scheduled to take place from December 18 to 22 at the National Stadium Karachi.

According to the details, the visiting cricketers were panicked by the outbreak and wanted to return home because of Christmas.

“They feared that if more corona cases came to light, they would have to stay longer in Pakistan,” said Naseer. “The board made every effort possible to continue the tour, but it didn’t work.”

Read more: West Indies postpone Pakistan ODI series after more players test Covid positive

According to sources, the PCB had also suggested their West Indies counterpart to reschedule the series next week, but they declared this option unworkable as players were not willing for it. Following this, both the boards decided to schedule the series in early June next year.

The board has not finalised the cost of this cancellation, however, they have offered the Caribbean Giants to play additional three T20Is when they visit the country in June.

“It is too early to talk about the losses due to postponement of the ODI series, but we have proposed to play additional three T20 matches in June to cover the losses,” PCB CEO mentioned.

Naseer further told that the infected players and staff members will leave for their home after completing their 10-day quarantine on December 24.