The Pakistan Super League was the last cricketing event to take place before the sport came to standstill due to the deadly outbreak of coronavirus. After several of the tournament's matches in the final leg were played behind closed doors, the PSL was called off before the knock-out games.
While the growing outbreak of coronavirus was justifiably the biggest reason for the decision, Karachi kings owner Salman Iqbal has now revealed how a 2 AM message from Alex Hales triggered a panic across the PCB, prompting them to take the urgent call.
"It was two o’clock in the morning in Pakistan and we had a message from Alex Hales saying: ‘Boss, I have symptoms of COVID-19 and I think you should all get tested," Salman was quoted as saying by BBC.
Hales was the part of Karachi Kings, but had returned to England earlier due to uncertainty over travel restrictions due to growing cases of COVID-19.
“I then got a call from coach Dean Jones saying he wanted to meet straight away," Salman further said.
“We were all scared. If you have the symptoms, you have to be isolated. I was trying hard to get somebody to Birmingham to get Hales tested.
“I even asked if my doctor from London would go to him but it couldn’t happen."
All the players, support staff and umpires were tested for coronavirus following the development, but all returned negative.
“In the end, we had to get everyone in the team tested. All of them started panicking and we postponed the tournament the next day," concluded Salman.
