PSL 2020: Alex Hales goes straight into self-isolation after leaving Pakistan

The coronavirus pandemic has rendered the world of cricket immobile. There is only the Pakistan Super League season 5 going on at the moment, that too in empty stadiums with the majority of foreign players have returned to their countries for safety purposes. The two semi-finals and the final will be played on March 17 and 18, 2020, with all matches taking place in Lahore.

A number of cricketers from New Zealand, Australia, England, South Africa, and other nations returned back midway as their countries stopped entry and exit of people and sealed their borders to reduce the spread of COVID-19. One such country was England, which has been hit hard by the virus and players like Jason Roy, James Vince, Tymal Mills, Liam Livingstone, Lewis Gregory, and Liam Dawson flew back.

Any TV series to binge-watch? asks Alex Hales

Another England player to come back home is opener Alex Hales, who opened the batting for Karachi Kings. He played 7 games and made 239 runs with two half-centuries with the highest score being 80* at an average of 59.75 and a strike rate of 156.20. He was one of the big reasons Karachi made it into the semi-finals with ease.

However, now that he is back and is under mandatory self-isolation, he took to Twitter to ask his fans a way to pass time. “Self-isolation begins… TV series to binge-watch please?!,” he tweeted.

Self-isolation begins… TV series to binge-watch please?!

— Alex Hales (@AlexHales1) March 16, 2020

Even Lahore Qalandars, who made it into the semi-finals for the first time, on basis of a whirlwind century from opener Chris Lynn, will be missing the maverick Australian opener in the knockout clash, as he has decided to come back to Brisbane, as Australia sealed its borders. Lynn will have to undergo 14 days of mandatory self-quarantine. The 29-year-old amassed 284 runs in the 8 matches he played for Lahore since February 21 which included a hundred and a fifty.

However, Qalandars have brought in Abid Ali into the squad from the silver category, while Peshawar Zalmi picked Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza as a replacement. Qalandars picked Salman Ali Agha as well, ahead of their semi-final match against Karachi Kings. Both players are from the silver category. The inclusions have been approved by the Event Technical Committee which includes PCB CEO Wasim Khan, Bazid Khan, Marina Iqbal, Sameer Khosa and Dr. Sohail Saleem.