‘It’s a matter of embarrassment’- Aamer Sohail on Mohammad Hafeez’s multiple COVID-19 tests

Aamer Sohail, the former Pakistan cricketer, feels that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has been rusty in handling all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez’s COVID-19 tests. On Tuesday, June 23, Hafeez was tested positive for coronavirus along with six other players. However, in the very next day on Wednesday, June 24, Hafeez did a personal test where his results came as negative.

Wasim Khan, the PCB Chief Executive, said that Hafeez’s decision to do the test personally caused some problems. The saga didn’t end there as the veteran has again been tested positive for COVID-19. In the meantime, Sohail reckons that the issue has become a ‘matter of embarrassment’ for cricket in Pakistan and he was critical of how PCB has handled the matter.

They should have done scrutiny of those results, says Aamer Sohail

“The whole Mohammad Hafeez COVID-19 test fiasco has been a matter of embarrassment for Pakistan and I fail to understand how this matter was handled so badly by the PCB,” Sohail wrote on his blog on Pak Passion.

“Firstly, tests were done after the squad was announced and instead of doing all tests in one laboratory, players were sent to different facilities for tests resulting in conflicting reports. Without jumping the gun, they should have done scrutiny of those results and if needed got them redone to confirm before going public with them,” he stated.

“And to expect Mohammad Hafeez to not go public with results of his COVID-19 test when PCB had announced that he had tested positive would be unrealistic as he is not bound by any code of conduct which would be the case if he was a centrally contracted player,” Sohail added.

For Pakistan, they are scheduled to play three Tests and as many T20Is in England, starting June 30 at the Lord’s Cricket Ground. They are set to arrive in England without the COVID-19 infected players. Earlier, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) confirmed the tour.

Apart from Hafeez, Haris Rauf, Haider Ali, Shadab Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Imran Khan, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Hasnain , Mohammad Rizwan, Wahab Riaz and Shahid Afridi were also tested positive for the deadly virus. The PCB put forth the news through a press release.