ABU DHABI: Peshawar Zalmi batsman Haider Ali and fast bowler Umaid Asif will miss the Pakistan Super League final against the Multan Sultans on Thursday after they were suspended for breaching the bio-secure bubble in Abu Dhabi.
The Pakistan Cricket Board said the incident occurred Wednesday and the decision to suspend both players was made by the tournament’s COVID-19 management panel hours before the final.
Ali’s suspension also forced the PCB to withdraw the middle-order batsman from the tours of England and the West Indies.
“They admitted to charges of violating the health and safety protocols by meeting people from outside their designated bio-secure bubble and also failing to maintain the prescribed social distancing,” the PCB said in a statement.
Both cricketers didn’t interact with any other squad member at any time after the incident and have been placed in isolation.
Multan’s middle-order batsman Sohaib Maqsood has replaced Ali in the squad for the tours of England and the West Indies after chief selector Mohammad Wasim consulted both head coach Misbah-ul-Haq and captain Babar Azam.
Maqsood has been in prolific form in the PSL, scoring 363 runs in 11 matches at an average of 40.33 and a healthy strike rate of 153.
Maqsood has played 26 ODIs and 20 Twenty20s for Pakistan but hasn’t played an international game since his last Twenty20 against New Zealand at Hamilton in 2016.
Peshawar Zalmi’s Ali and Asif suspended before PSL final
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Peshawar Zalmi’s Ali and Asif suspended before PSL final
- Players breached bio-secure bubble in Abu Dhabi
- Both cricketers have been placed in isolation
Curfew extended in Gilgit-Baltistan, probe ordered after deadly Khamenei protests
- At least 15 people were killed in clashes with law enforcement agencies over the weekend in Gilgit-Baltistan
- Government also announces a de-weaponization campaign, crackdown on hate speech and cybercrime in region
ISLAMABAD: The government in Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) region on Tuesday extended a curfew in Gilgit district and ordered a judicial probe into violent protests over the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes last week, an official said.
At least 15 people were killed in clashes with law enforcement agencies over the weekend in GB, where protesters torched and vandalized several buildings, including United Nations regional offices, an army-run school, software technology park and a local charity building.
The violence prompted regional authorities to impose curfew in Gilgit and Skardu districts on March 2-4 as officials urged people to stay indoors and cooperate with law enforcers, amid widespread anger in Pakistan, particularly among members of the Shiite minority, over Khamenei’s killing.
On Tuesday, the GB government convened to review the situation and announced the extension of curfew in Gilgit among a number of security measures as well as ordered the establishment of a judicial commission to investigate the weekend violence in the region.
“The government has made it clear that the law will strictly take its course against elements involved in vandalism at government institutions, private properties and incidents of vandalism in Gilgit and Skardu and no kind of mischief will be tolerated,” Shabbir Mir, a GB government spokesperson, said in a statement.
“In view of the security situation, curfew will remain in force in Gilgit, while the decision to extend the curfew in Skardu will be taken keeping the ground realities and the changing situation in view.”
The statement did not specify how long the curfew will remain in place in Gilgit.
Besides the formation of the judicial commission to investigate the violent clashes, the government also decided to launch a large-scale de-weaponization campaign in the entire Gilgit district, for which relevant institutions have been directed to immediately complete all necessary arrangements, according to Mir.
In addition, a crackdown has been ordered on hate speech, spread of fake news and cybercrime.
“The aim of these decisions is to ensure the rule of law, protect the lives and property of citizens and crack down on miscreants,” he said. “Approval has also been given to immediately survey the affected infrastructure and start their restoration work on priority basis.”
Demonstrators in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi also stormed the US Consulate on Sunday, smashing windows and attempting to burn the building. Police responded with batons, tear gas, and gunfire, leaving 10 people dead and more than 50 injured.
Pakistani authorities have since beefed up security at US diplomatic missions across the country, including around the US consulate building in Peshawar, to avoid any further violence.
