West Indies’ Roston Chase, Kyle Mayers, Sheldon Cottrell unavailable for Pakistan series after testing positive for COVID-19 

Three members of the West Indies men’s cricket team will be unavailable for the series in Pakistan after returning positive COVID-19 tests. All-rounders Roston Chase and Kyle Mayers as well as left-arm pacer Sheldon Cottrell have tested positive for the deadly virus, Cricket West Indies has confirmed.

West Indies will take on Pakistan in three T20Is and three ODIs from December 13 to 22. All six matches will be played in Karachi.

An official release from Cricket West Indies informed that the players are fully vaccinated and are without major symptoms. Apart from the three cricketers, a non-coaching member of the team management unit also returned positive tests in Karachi.

All four members of the West Indies touring squad who returned positive tests will remain in isolation for 10 days and until they return negative test results. They are under the supervision of the team physician, Dr. Akshai Mansingh.

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“Rest of the squad are in good spirits” - Cricket West Indies CEO

Admitting that the loss of the three players due to COVID is a definite setback, CEO of Cricket West Indies, Johnny Grave, asserted that the rest of the squad is gearing up for the Pakistan challenge. He said:

“These were confirmed whilst the players and staff were still in room isolation, so despite this significant setback to our preparation plans, we are confident that the tour can continue as everyone else returned negative PCRs prior to their arrival into Pakistan and two negative PCRs since they have been in Karachi."

Conceding that the the risk of COVID-19 infection is impossible to remove completely from a cricket tour despite the players being part of bio-bubbles, he added:

“…Many of our players have been living in bio-secure bubbles almost continuously since before the CPL (Caribbean Premier League). This unusual loss of three players from our squad will seriously impact our team preparations, but the rest of the squad are in good spirits and will begin training today ahead of our first game on Monday.”

The West Indies-Pakistan series will begin with the first of the three T20Is to be played at the Karachi National Stadium on Monday, December 13.