Mohammad Amir to join Pakistan squad in England

By
Sarthak Karkhanis
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Mohammad Amir retires from international cricket - "cannot play under this management" | Pakistan bowler Amir has retired from internationals

Last Updated on 5 years by Charbel Coorey

Pakistan speedster Mohammad Amir is all set to join the Pakistan cricket team in England, as a replacement for Haris Rauf, who tested positive for COVID-19. Amir, who earlier pulled out of the tour owing to personal reasons, approached Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to rejoin the team after the birth of his second child.

“As part of the process, both Amir and Mohammad Imran (Masseur at the National High Performance Centre) underwent Covid-19 tests on Monday and require two negative tests to be eligible to travel to the United Kingdom. If their first tests return negative, they will be moved to a bio-secure environment in Lahore where their second tests will be conducted on Wednesday, with the expected departures over the weekend,” stated the PCB’s media release.

“The departure of Shoaib Malik to England has been delayed until the second week of August after India extended the ban on international flights until 31 July, which, in turn, has delayed a planned family reunion. When Shoaib Malik will join the squad for the T20I series, which starts on 28 August in Manchester, the team management will release a player,” the press release added.

“Especially keeping in view white-ball cricket and T20 cricket, he (Amir) is a very experienced bowler and after consulting with the captain, we thought it would be right to bring Amir into the squad and it will definitely improve the strength of our squad,” Misbah said on Amir joining the squad in England. 

“Very unfortunate with Harris Rauf. He has been with the squad and we are waiting for him to recover, but unfortunately, he has been repeatedly tested positive,” Misbah added.

“Rohail will stay with the squad till Amir joins us and I’m sure Rohail will gain a lot of experience by being among the guys as we have two wicket-keepers (Rizwan and Sarfaraz) in the squad already. Shoaib Malik will join the squad a little later as he needs to spend some time with the family post 31st of July. We will make sure he has enough time – at least two weeks – to be ready ahead of the T20I series. Once Malik comes in, we will decide on whom we can release as we can only have 29 players in the squad,” Misbah concluded.

Amir, who tested negative, has to undergo a couple of negative tests more before in joins the bio-secure bubble in England.

Written by Sarthak Karkhanis. Follow Sarthak on Twitter today.

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