ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Cricket Board has allowed fast bowler Naseem Shah to re-enter the bio-secure bubble before returning to play in the country’s premier Twenty20 league.
The 18-year-old Shah was expelled last Monday from the remainder of Pakistan Super League after arriving at a team hotel in Lahore with an outdated negative test for COVID-19. The last 20 games of the postponed tournament are being played in the United Arab Emirates.
The PCB’s protocols required all players traveling to Abu Dhabi to present a negative test taken not more than 48 hours prior to arrival at the team hotel. Shah presented a report on Monday from a test that was conducted on May 18.
But after meeting with franchise owners, the PCB allowed Shah to return to the team hotel after returning another negative test COVID-19. Shah will then have to clear two more COVID-19 tests before boarding the last charter flight to Abu Dhabi for the tournament.
Shah is supposed to be the key player for Quetta Gladiators in the PSL. He rose to the fame with his pace when he made his test debut against Australia in November 2019 and then grabbed a hat trick in a test match against Bangladesh at Rawalpindi last year. He has played in nine test matches and grabbed 20 wickets.
The PCB has not yet announced the schedule of the remaining 20 PSL games in Abu Dhabi. The league was postponed in March when several players and support staff among the six franchises tested positive for COVID-19.
Naseem Shah set to join bio-secure bubble for Pakistan Super League
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Naseem Shah set to join bio-secure bubble for Pakistan Super League
- Shah was expelled last Monday from the remainder of PSL after arriving at a team hotel in Lahore with an outdated coronavirus test
- Shah will have to clear two more COVID-19 tests before boarding a flight to Abu Dhabi for the tournament
Punjab imposes curbs ahead of Basant kite festival’s return after 18-year hiatus
- Basant to be celebrated in Lahore from Feb. 6-8 for first time since 2007, officials say
- Section 144 enforced to bar religious and political imagery on kites amid security concerns
ISLAMABAD: Punjab authorities have enforced Section 144 and imposed strict limits on kite materials and imagery ahead of the Basant kite-flying festival, which is set to return in Lahore next month for the first time since 2007 under tight safety and public-order conditions.
The move comes as the three-day Basant celebration — a traditional spring cultural festival marked by kite flying — is scheduled from Feb. 6 to 8 under the Punjab Kite Flying Act 2025, ending an 18-year hiatus after years of ban amid deadly accidents and safety concerns.
Basant, once a vibrant tradition signaling the arrival of spring with colorful kites and rooftop festivities, was outlawed in the mid-2000s after authorities linked metal-coated kite strings and celebratory gunfire to multiple deaths and injuries.
“A 30-day ban has been imposed under Section 144 on the manufacture, sale, purchase and use of kites bearing religious or political symbols or imagery,” the Punjab Home Department said in a statement.
“Kites displaying the image of any country’s flag or a political party’s flag will also be prohibited,” it added. “The manufacture, transportation, storage, sale and use of kites in violation of these restrictions have been declared punishable offenses.”
Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure allows authorities to impose different kinds of restrictions to maintain public order and safety.
The statement highlighted “concerns that provocative elements could use religious or political symbols during Basant.”
It said that authorities have permitted only plain or multicolored kites during the event.
“The Punjab government has allowed Basant as a recreational festival under a ‘safe Basant’ framework,” the statement added. “No violations of the law will be permitted during Basant.”
