Kashif Bhatti
Kashif Bhatti (Credits: Twitter)

Pakistan allrounder Kashif Bhatti has been allowed to rejoin the Pakistan squad in England after a scare over a positive Covid-19 Test had left him self-isolating from the rest of the squad as a precaution.

The 33-year old had travelled to England in the second week of this month with a delayed third batch of players after initially testing positive in Pakistan in tests conducted under the PCB’s protocols. But after he was tested negative twice under those same protocols and was also tested negative once with the airline he was travelling on, he received the green light to travel to England.

However, when he underwent a test on his arrival in the UK,  he was tested positive. Consequently, he was asked to self-isolate from the rest of the squad in Worcester. But he underwent two more tests since then and both of them returned negative.

Pakistan
Pakistan players travelled to England in three batches (Photo: AAP)

As a result, Kashif Bhatti has now received the permission to join the rest of the squad.  There was confusion over the initial positive test in the UK but an ECB spokesperson said it was “for the remnants of a previous Covid-19 infection”.

“The player had returned a positive test result for the remnants of a previous Covid-19 infection and in consultation with Public Health England and a virologist, a safety-first approach was taken to isolate the player,” the spokesperson said. “The player has now returned a second negative test with no risk of infection to other players and staff.”

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Bhatti had travelled to the UK with Haider Ali and Imran Khan as well as Malang Ali, the team masseur, all of whom were among the group of players and support staff who returned positive tests in Pakistan.

Before the third batch, a second batch of players – which included Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Rizwan, Shadab Khan and Wahab Riaz – tested negative on the retest and arrived in the UK after a second negative test. Before these two batches, the bulk of the squad had landed in the UK on June 29.

Kashif Bhatti and the other three, on the other hand, arrived in the UK on July 8. Since his arrival, he was in self-isolation and thus did not train with the team. When rest of the Pakistan team travelled to Derby from Worcester, Kashif Bhatti had to do it separately.

Pakistan are scheduled to play three Tests and as many T20Is in England. As of now, England are currently playing the three-match Test series against West Indies. The hosts are trailing the series after losing the first match by 4 wickets.

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