Amid the novel Coronavirus outbreak, James Foster, the coach of Peshawar Zalmi, along with 10 other foreign players have decided against taking any further part in the fifth edition of Pakistan Super League (PSL).
See Also: BCCI postpones the start of IPL 13 to April 15 amid Coronavirus outbreak
The list of players who will return home immediately from Pakistan includes Alex Hales (Karachi Kings), Rilee Rossouw and James Vince (Multan Sultans), Tom Banton, Carlos Brathwaite, Liam Dawson, Lewis Gregory and Liam Livingstone (Peshawar Zalmi), Jason Roy and Tymal Mills (Quetta Gladiators).
"All players and players support personnel have been given the option to withdraw from the HBL PSL 2020 should they wish to do so," the Pakistan Cricket Board stated in a release.
Nonetheless, the T20 league will go ahead as scheduled but the games will be played in empty stadiums. As per the tournament regulations, the teams will be allowed player replacements, which will have to be approved by the Event Technical Committee.
"The PCB will continue to assess and monitor the situation and make decisions as appropriate in consultation with the team owners," the release further stated. "No player has to date tested positive for Coronavirus."
"This remains an evolving and unprecedented situation with a number of moving parts that require constant and regular monitoring.
Wasim Khan, the PCB chief executive said on Friday (March 13), "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.
"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 PCB will facilitate their safe return and will ensure the same for all of the players and support staff personnel who decide to withdraw from HBL PSL 2020.
"As stated previously, we will continue to assess and review the situation and will not hesitate to make what we believe are the right decisions for everyone involved."
