Right-arm pacer Naseem Shah of Quetta Gladiators has been expelled from the remainder of the Pakistan Super League’s (PSL) 2021 season, scheduled to be held in Abu Dhabi, for breaching the tournament’s COVID-19 protocols.
As per reports, Shah, 18, arrived at a team hotel in Lahore on Monday with an outdated negative test for COVID-19 following which the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said the player is now out of the competition.
Shah will now not be travelling to Abu Dhabi on May 26 and is now out of the competition.
As per the Covid-19 protocols for the PSL 6 remainder, all those traveling through chartered flights from Karachi and Lahore were asked to arrive at their respective team hotels in Karachi and Lahore on May 24 with negative reports of PCR tests taken not more than 48 hours prior to arrival at the hotel.
However, Shah presented a PCR report from a test that was conducted on May 18.
Commenting on the incident, Babar Hamid, head of PSL 6, said: “The PCB doesn’t take any pride in releasing a young fast bowler from its marquee event but if we will ignore this breach, then we will potentially put at risk the entire event. We appreciate Quetta Gladiators for accepting this decision as it confirms we are all aligned to strictly following and implementing the protocols.”
“This decision will also send out a loud and clear message to all involved in the remaining matches that the PCB will not compromise on any violations and will expel the player or player support personnel irrespective of his stature,” he added.
Earlier, the sixth edition of the tournament was indefinately postponed on March 4 after several Covid-19 positive cases emerged.
Also on Monday, all-rounder Shahid Afridi of Multan Sultans was ruled out of the remainder due to a back injury.