PSL 2020: England cricketers set to leave Pakistan soon amid Coronavirus fears

The novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) has caused a series of troubles to humans all over the world. At one end, the Indian authorities have suspended the issue of visas to foreign players in an attempt to control the rapidly spreading virus infection. On the other hand of the spectrum, England cricketers are preparing to make hasty exits from the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL) amid increasing coronavirus concerns.

It seems that the final phase of the T20 competition will be played without any England cricketer and the tournament may not have more spice to the flavour. If the latest reports are to be believed, the English cricketers were in a hurry to exit from the PSL on Thursday night as a precautionary measure.

Flights being arranged for England players

Amid concerns about getting stuck abroad as the coronavirus outbreak is causing a galaxy of problems, the PSL were arranging flights back to the UK for Jason Roy, Moeen Ali, James Vince, Tom Banton, Alex Hales and Chris Jordan according to Daily Mail. The PSL still has 10 more days left to run but all 15 players from England could jet off to the UK by Saturday.

However, the PSL administration is in no mood to cancel the league as the competition will continue without England players, with matches played behind closed doors. In fact, the thirteenth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is also facing the same scenario. As per the recent reports, IPL could be played behind closed doors.

As far as other developments in England cricket is concerned, Nottinghamshire have abandoned Northamptonshire as pre-season opponents later this month due to increasing concerns over the spread of coronavirus outbreak. Meanwhile, Northamptonshire are travelling to Singapore on Monday for a 12-day warm-weather training break, which let Nottinghamshire remove the fixture so as to avoid unnecessary risk to their own players and staff.

On the other hand, Somerset have also ruled out of their pre-season trip yo Abu Dhabi where they were expected to play against the likes of Worcestershire and Essex. As far as international cricket is concerned, the next two ODIs between India and South Africa will be played behind closed doors. The three-match ODI series between Australia and New Zealand will also not permit the fans to watch the games from the stands.

The coronavirus has claimed more than 4000 lives and infected more than 1,60,000 people worldwide. The COVID-19 has also disturbed the international calendar of various sporting events all over the world.