Sarfaraz, remaining players to leave for Abu Dhabi today

Eleven players, including former Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed, will leave for the UAE today. The players are expected to arrive in Abu Dhabi after being rerouted from Bahrain, said Geo News.

Earlier today, the players and staff, including the Quetta Gladiators captain Sarfaraz Ahmed, were not allowed to board commercial flights going from Lahore and Karachi to Abu Dhabi via Doha early morning on Sunday. The reason for not allowing them was that they did not have the required clearances to board the flights, as per the restrictions in place on travelers to the UAE amid the pandemic.

Five people from this PSL contingent including fast bowler Muhammad Hasnain were cleared to fly, while the others had to return to their hotels where they have been in quarantine since May 24.

In a late-night development, the PCB announced that 13 players quarantining at their hotels in Lahore have been permitted to return to their homes in Pakistan, with the board deciding to fly them to Abu Dhabi on commercial instead of chartered flights.

As the PCB prepares to hold the remainder of PSL 2021 in the UAE, a batch of more than 25 individuals from both cities was supposed to travel to the UAE on a chartered plane. But the PCB, in a late decision, instead opted to put them on commercial flights, which nullified the quarantine protocols already in place.

Overall, over 270 personnel – both Pakistani and overseas – are in Abu Dhabi and have already started quarantine, a basic requirement before entering the tournament’s bio-secure bubble. The quarantine periods vary based on the country from which the persons have travelled the batches from Pakistan are meant to spend seven days in quarantine from the day of check-in, while those from South Africa and India – the latter as part of the production crew – must undergo ten days isolation.

Had things gone to plan, the PCB intended to restart the league no later than June 5. But with several pending issues, there is still no certainty over the schedule of fixtures. With every passing day, the available window continues shrinking – the Pakistan team is set to fly to England on June 22, meaning the PSL needs to wind up before then. the remainder of the tournament – as things stand, 20 matches out of 34 remain to be played in the season – might be truncated to fit it within the available window.