Pakistan fast bowler Haris Rauf has tested negative for coronavirus in England, and as a result, he would now be joining the squad in Manchester. The Pakistan Cricket Board's official handle tweeted about the development on Sunday. "Fast bowler Harris Rauf's Test for Covid-19 turned negative. He now joins the national squad in Manchester," PCB Media tweeted.
Earlier this week, the board had confirmed that fast bowler Rauf cleared his second COVID-19 test in Pakistan and as a result, was eligible to join the squad in England.
Rauf had earlier tested positive for coronavirus five times. And finally, he had tested negative earlier this week.
Pakistan's squad for Test series against England: Azhar Ali (capt), Babar Aazam, Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Imam-ul-Haq, Imran Khan, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Naseem Shah, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Sohail Khan, Usman Shinwari, Wahab Riaz and Yasir Shah
In September 2019, Riaz had taken an indefinite break from red-ball cricket to focus on the shortest format of the game. Now, he has returned to Pakistan's Test squad.
Meanwhile, the remaining nine players - Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hasnain, and Musa Khan - will continue to train with the squad for the T20I series, which will be played after the Test series.
Pakistan and England are slated to play three Tests and three T20Is against each other.
The first Test of the series is to be played from August 5 at Manchester.
The three-match Test series will be a part of the World Test Championship (WTC).