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Thought of quitting the England tour midway never crossed our minds says Babar Azam

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam stated that they never felt the need to cancel the tour of England midway after three of the English players and four support staff tested positive for COVID-19. England had to name an entirely different 18 members squad with Ben Stokes taking the charge. The first team squad was forced to go into 10-day isolation but the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was satisfied with the arrangements made by the England Cricket Board (ECB) and will continue with their white-ball series which begins on Thursday (8th July). Pakistan has been the most frequent travelling since the pandemic. This is their second tour of England in a year’s time and most of the players have been in the bi0-secure bubble since May. However, Babar Zam said that they never contemplated calling the tour off as England did on their tour to South Africa last year. "No, we didn't think about it, it didn't come into our minds at any time," Azam was quoted as saying by ESPN Cricinfo. "The PCB and ECB have assured us that they will take care of the safety and health of all the squad members. We must understand that these are unprecedented times of Covid-19. I want to acknowledge my players who have spent the last 18 months in and out of bio-secure bubbles and we have prepared in that. For now we are focusing on cricket and tomorrow's game,” he added. The skipper said that they are well aware of most of the England players but the wholesale changes has resulted in a few homework still to be done on the uncapped and untested players. "We know most of them but there were a couple of new faces in the squad and we sat together with the analyst, we worked on them, we have seen footage of their county matches," Azam said. "They may be new players but they are playing for England so we won't take them lightly. I know a few of them, having played in T20 Blast, and those we don't know we have researched their performances,” he added.

Ramiz Raja urges western countries to laud subcontinent teams for their commitment to the game

Former Pakistan batsman turned commentator Ramiz Raza has taken an indirect dig at the England Cricket Board (ECB) for maintaining double standards in tacking the COVID situation. Raja said that the western countries need to start acknowledging the subcontinent and their commitment to the game. He pointed out that despite seven personnel from the England team testing positive for the novel coronavirus, the Pakistan team has decided to stay back and continue with their white-ball tour. England was forced to name a completely new squad for the ODI series against Pakistan as all the members from the squad which played against Sri Lanka had to go undergo mandatory 10-day isolation. The English team had left a tour of South Africa midway last year when COVID-19 had breached through the South African team bubble. However, in a similar circumstance this time around, Pakistan decided to stay back and continued with the England tour. “England team suffer at the hands of COVID yet Pakistan team stays. South Africa had one player with symptoms of covid in Dec and England chose to leave quoting mental challenges. West needs to acknowledge the spirit of the subcontinent and commitment to the game… nahin?? (isn’t it?)," he asked on Twitter. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is satisfied with ECB’s arrangements after the COVID scare. “The PCB is satisfied by the assurances and guarantees provided by the ECB on behalf of its medical panel, and feels comfortable with the existing protocols that have been put in place to ensure all the Pakistan players and player support staff remain safe and secure throughout the duration of the series, which commences on Thursday, July 8, in Cardiff," the PCB said in its official statement. “The PCB has also been in touch with its team management and has advised them to exercise extra caution while in the hotel or at the match venue," it added. Meanwhile, the new-look England team will be led by Ben Stokes with as many as 9 uncapped players in the 18 member squad. Three of the English cricketers and four support staff tested positive for COVID-19 just 48 hours before the commencement of the first game and the whole squad which were supposed to take on Pakistan has gone into isolation.

Indian players to get their second dose of COVID-19 vaccine on 7th and 9th July

The UK bound Indian players who are currently enjoying their break in England ahead of the five-match Test series against England will get their second jab of the COVID-19 vaccine on 7th and 9th July. Sources close to the development told ANI that the second dose of the vaccination has been planned for the team. "The second dosage has been planned for the cricketers and they will be vaccinated on Wednesday and Friday," the source was quoted as saying by ANI. The Indian players are currently enjoying their time in different parts of England after the final of the inaugural ICC World Test Championship. They are set to rejoin the bio-bubble on 14th July, 20 days prior to the first Test. At the request of BCCI, ECB has arranged a practice game for the Indians before the first Test commences on 4th August. Indian skipper Virat Kohli had expressed his desire during a virtual press conference after the WTC final that his side wanted first-class games ahead of the England series which was not given to them due to some unknown reasons. Despite the COVID protocols in place, ECB has managed to organise a practice match for the touring side. The touring side has been dealt with a major blow after opener Shubman Gill was ruled out of the five-match series and will head back home recently. He sustained a shin injury earlier which got aggravated during the WTC final which will prevent him from taking the field for atleast 8 weeks.

29 Sri Lanka players give into pressure; sign contract ahead of India series

Former Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews have declined to sign the new tour contract for the forthcoming limited-overs series against India and have opted out of both the ODI and the T20I series after he was offered a tour contract for the India series. He is the only member of the 30 member group to opt-out of the contract. The rest of the 29 players might have signed the contract for the India series but Sri Lanka Cricket Board’s (SLC) decision to not continue with the annual contracts has put several players in a precarious situation. Test specialists like Dimuth Karunaratne, Suranga Lakmal, Dinesh Chandimal will be without a contract until November when they are due to play their next Test. Meanwhile coming to the decision taken by Mathews, SLC released a statement where they mentioned that Mathews had requested them to relieve him from the national duties for the India series citing personal reasons. SLC CEO Ashley de Silva said that this the board’s way of penalising the players who refused to sign the central contracts making several demands over the same. He said that the players will only be offered tour contracts until this year as they had enough time to sign the contracts but they didn’t. There is distress among the Sri Lankan cricketers and it will be interesting to see how they deal with it. "I don't know how there can be unity in the team while all this is going on," a senior player was quoted by the ESPNcricinfo. "Some players are being blamed for being the first to sign the tour contracts, and others are defending themselves for doing that,” he added. Meanwhile, it must be noted that the Lankan players had decided to sign the annual contract midway through their tour of England but by the time they returned, SLC had already made their decision to withdraw the central contracts. De Silva said that the central contracts will again be in place from 2022.