PSL Suffer More Setback As Daren Sammy And Mitchell McClenaghan Pull Out

Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) hopes of finishing Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2020 on a high has received further setbacks as more overseas players have pulled out of the games due to COVID-19 related travel restrictions. The PCB is holding the four remaining play-off matches and the summit clash this weekend and next week in Karachi.

Earlier this year in March, the fifth edition of the PSL had to be postponed in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. The decision was taken by the PCB after reports emerged that one overseas player had shown symptoms of COVID-19. The tournament was cancelled just before the playoffs stage.

The revised schedule will see the remaining games taking place between November 14 to 17. Multan Sultans and Karachi Kings will face-off in the Qualifier and Lahore Qalandars and Peshawar Zalmi are scheduled to clash in Eliminator, with both matches taking place on November 14. The second Eliminator will take place on November 15 before the final takes place two days later.

More overseas players pull out:

Just a couple of days before the resumption of PSL 2020, the tournament has lost the services of one of its biggest names – Daren Sammy. The West Indies star will be missing the games for his PSL franchise for the first time since the PSL was launched in 2016.

The Peshawar Zalmi star will not be flying to Karachi because of COVID-19 related travel issues. New Zealand’s Mitchell McClenaghan has also pulled out due to his country’s travel guidelines. McClenaghan, who represented Karachi Kings, will not play the matches to be held on November 14, 15 and 17 in Karachi, according to Indian Express.

The report further stated that the franchises were facing difficulties in finding replacements due to the problems posed by travel restrictions. The PSL franchises have already lost service of leading English players due to their country’s white ball series in South Africa.

On the other hand, Multan Sultans’ English recruit James Vince and Bangladesh’s Mahmudullah also pulled out after testing positive for the virus. Recently, another Pakistani player was tested positive for the virus.

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