Wahab Riaz, Arshad Iqbal, Kamran Akmal, and Hazratullah Zazai have all been ruled out of Peshwar Zalmi’s first match against Quetta Gladiators.
In Wahab’s absence, Shoaib Malik will take over as captain for the team’s first match.
Players from the playing XI have been quarantined after testing positive for the coronavirus, making it impossible for the Zalmi to finalize their match selection, according to the information.
The Zalmi and Gladiators will compete in the second match of the HBL Pakistan Super League’s (PSL) seventh edition at the National Stadium Karachi. The day earlier, Multan Sultans had won their first match against Karachi Kings at the same venue.
Former Pakistan captain and Quetta Gladiators all-rounder Shahid Afridi has also tested positive for COVID-19.
Meanwhile, only hours before the start of the PSL, Imad Wasim, the former captain of the Karachi Kings, and Jordan Thompson, an international player, both tested positive for coronavirus.
Three days ago, Wasim Akram, the president of the Karachi Kings, tested positive for COVID-19.
In order to ensure that the game continues in these unprecedented COVID-19 times, the PCB has allowed each side to field an exclusively local playing XI if foreign players are unavailable, and matches will be played if at least 13 players are available.
The PCB has imposed a limit of 20 players per side at any given time, and a player who has been substituted may rejoin the squad with the event technical committee’s permission.
The first 15 games will be hosted at National Stadium Karachi until February 7th, following which the action will move to Gaddafi Stadium Lahore, where the final 19 games will be conducted from February 10 to 27th.
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