Pakistan seamer Naseem Shah has been ruled out of the remainder of the T20I series against England after testing positive for the coronavirus. His positive test came to light on Thursday, which sidelines him from the final two matches in the Lahore leg of the historic seven-match T20I series.
The news of Naseem contacting Covid came a day after it emerged that he had gone down with pneumonia and had been admitted to a nearby hospital in the city on September 28. The 19-year-old was, however, discharged from the hospital as the Pakistan Cricket Board confirmed the seamer is “feeling better”. The board also stated that its in-house medical staff is monitoring the player.
Naseem’s comeback to the team after a day spent at the hospital was followed by a quick Covid-19 test, which came out positive, leaving the team management and selectors with no option but to rule the seamer out of the final two T20Is in Lahore on September 30 and October 2.
The PCB said in a media release, though, that Naseem will be available for the forthcoming T20I tri-series in New Zealand, also featuring Bangladesh, after undergoing isolation at home for two days and hopefully returning negative in the following round of tests.
Naseem is the second member of the Pakistan camp to test Covid positive through the England series. His name pops up in the list a week after an unnamed member of the support staff also tested positive. This individual did not travel with the squad ahead of the second T20I of the series in Karachi. Despite the person’s positive test, there was no delay in the proceedings at the National Stadium.
Notably, Naseem had been absent from Pakistan’s playing XI for the last four T20Is after playing the opening game. He had an expensive outing, conceding 0/41 off his 4 overs. But the right-arm pacer was fantastic in the Asia Cup 2022 that preceded the England visit to Pakistan.
He proved to be a capable replacement for the injured Shaheen Afridi on his debut T20I assignment, taking seven wickets from his five matches at 7.44 runs an over. Naseem played his part with the bat, too, hitting a pair of critical sixes to help Pakistan avoid a loss to Afghanistan in the Super 4s stage at Sharjah.
The Babar Azam-led Pakistan squad leaves for New Zealand on October 3, a day after completing the T20I series against England. They play a two-round T20I tri-series versus New Zealand and Bangladesh in Christchurch, with games on October 7, 8, 11 and 13 before a scheduled final on October 14.
On the very next day, Pakistan will shift base to Brisbane in Australia ahead of the two warm-up matches before the first game of the T20 World Cup in Melbourne against arch-rivals India on October 23.
Pakistan will have former Australia opener Matthew Hayden rejoining the squad as batting mentor in Brisbane. Hayden had performed the role in UAE, too, when Pakistan reached the semifinal of the last year’s T20 World Cup and lost to eventual champions Australia in Dubai.
It is in Brisbane that Shaheen is also expected to relink with the playing contingent after undergoing a sustained rehab for a knee injury he picked up in July while playing the Test series against Sri Lanka. The left-arm pacer, instrumental to Pakistan’s fortunes, missed the Asia Cup 2022 and was ruled out of the England series as well.
In his absence, Pakistan made the final of the Asia Cup before losing to Sri Lanka, with Naseem standing out as their major positive.
