10 International Cricketers to Leave Pakistan Super League in Wake of Coronavirus Pandemic

However, the season will continue as planned and matches will be played behind the closed doors, PCB said.

Ten overseas cricketers playing in the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL) will leave for home, thus taking no further part in the T20 competition in wake of the global spread of coronavirus.

Alex Hales (Karachi Kings), Rilee Rossouw, James Vince (Multan Sultans), Tom Banton, Carlos Brathwaite, Liam Dawson, Lewis Gregory, Liam Livingstone (Peshawar Zalmi), Jason Roy, Tymal Mills (Quetta Gladiators) are the ten cricketers who will fly back home, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said in a statement on Friday.

Apart from that James Foster, coach of Peshawar Zalmi, has also decided to leave for home.

However, the season will continue as planned and matches will be played behind the closed doors, PCB said.

“Today, the PCB and the team owners, as part of their duty of care, have decided to give all the players the option to decide if they wish to return home. Ensuring that the players feel comfortable remains paramount to the PCB,” chief executive of PCB Wasim Khan said.

He added, “As of now, it is important to emphasise and clarify that the main concern of many of the 10 players and a coach, who have chosen to return home, revolves around avoiding a potential situation where they might become stranded either due to flight cancellations or border closures in their own countries.”

The decision was taken after a conference call with the team owners on Friday. The suffering teams have been allowed the option to replace players as per the PSL regulations.

However, no discussion was held with regards to their upcoming domestic one-day tournament and the international matches against Bangladesh in April.