On Wednesday, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) warned Babar Azam, the national ODI and T20 captain and some other cricketers for breaching the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in the midst of the ongoing COVID-19 after they trained together at Lahore’s local club.
After the videos of Babar practicing with Pakistan’s teammates, Imam-ul-Haq, fast bowler Naseem Shah and some local cricketers surfaced on social media, PCB took the action. The cricketers have been practising at the Abdul Qadir Cricket Academy, which incidentally is located near the headquarters of PCB at Gaddafi Stadium.
A source of PCB said that concerns were raised because Babar, Imam and Nasim had apparently not followed appropriate health and safety measures while training.
On Tuesday, the PCB rejected its decision to conduct a training camp at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore before the upcoming tour of England, because failing to create a “bio-secure” environment due to the shortage of rooms in the residential complex.
Pakistan is scheduled to play 3 Test and ODI matches against England in August and is expected to enter the UK four weeks prior to the events to complete the quarantine.
