Pakistan player Fakhar Zaman has been ruled out of the tour of New Zealand because of fever.
Fakhar Zaman of the Pakistan team failed to recover from fever before their team’s departure for New Zealand. As this is considered to be a symptom of COVID-19, it has been decided to have Zaman ruled out of the tour for everyone’s safety.
As per team doctor Dr Sohail Saleem, ‘Fakhar’s COVID test report was received on Saturday which came out negative but today he picked up fever. As soon as his condition was reported, he was isolated from the rest of the squad in the team hotel. We are constantly monitoring his condition and remain hopeful of his quick recovery. However, he is not fit to travel with the squad and as such has been withdrawn from the touring party’.
This has also been confirmed by the Pakistan Cricket Board’s statement which read, ‘The decision to withdraw Zaman from the tour was made keeping the health of the rest of the squad members as a top priority’.
The statement also added how Fakhar had been isolated in their team hotel in Lahore as soon as his condition had been detected. Now, the statement says, PCB’s medical panel continues to monitor him. Meanwhile, it has also been made clear that the management has not yet asked for a replacement for the 30-year-old player.
All the team members and the officials also underwent COVID-19 tests last Saturday. As the results came, all turned out to be negative.
With that, Zaman will have to miss out on this match after having played three Tests, 47 ODIs and 40 T20Is for the team. Today, Pakistan’s players and officials will fly to New Zealand and will remain in isolation for 14 days.
There, the two teams will take part in three T20Is and two Test matches which will start at Auckland’s Eden Park on December 18. To further understand how these cricket formats are played, visit Betwala.
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