Amir included for England series; undergoes coronavirus test

The Pakistan Cricket Board has confirmed fast bowler Mohammad Amir will join the Pakistan men’s national cricket team in England following the birth of his second daughter last week.

Furthermore, and on the request of the team management, the PCB has also agreed to send Mohammad Imran, a masseur at the National High Performance Centre, to England.

As part of the process, both Amir and Imran underwent Covid-19 tests on Monday and require two negative tests to be eligible to travel to the United Kingdom.

If their first tests return negative, they will be moved to a bio-secure environment in Lahore where their second tests will be conducted on Wednesday, with the expected departures over the weekend.

As soon as Amir will join the squad, reserve wicketkeeper-batsman Rohail Nazir will be released from his duties.

Meanwhile, the departure of Shoaib Malik to England has been delayed until the second week of August after India extended the ban on international flights until 31 July, which, in turn, has delayed a planned family reunion.

When Shoaib Malik will join the squad for the T20I series, which starts on 28 August in Manchester, the team management will release a player.

Amir, who earlier withdrew from the series due to the expected birth of his second child, has been included after Haris Rauf’s coronavirus test returned positive for sixth time.

Chief selector and head coach Misbahul Haq has already contacted Amir and after taking his consent he has decided to include Amir in the team.

A few days ago, Amir became the father of a baby girl and is now available to join the squad in England. Amir will depart for England to join the team in a bio-secure environment after getting through all the procedures of testing and isolation.