On Tuesday, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had announced that veteran all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez was among seven players to have tested positive for the novel coronavirus. However, a day later, Hafeez shared a piece of news on Twitter that he and his family tested negative in tests conducted at a different private lab. Now, Hafeez has been lectured by PCB for his attempt to undergo a private examination.
“After Tested positive COVID-19 acc to PCB testing Report yesterday, as 2nd opinion & for satisfaction I personally went to Test it again along with my family and here I along with my all family members are reported Negative (sic) Alham du Lillah. May Allah keep us all safe,” Hafeez tweeted.
After Tested positive COVID-19 acc to PCB testing Report yesterday,as 2nd opinion & for satisfaction I personally went to Test it again along with my family and here I along with my all family members are reported Negetive Alham du Lillah. May Allah keep us all safe 🤲🏼 pic.twitter.com/3WKOkXisdp
— Mohammad Hafeez (@MHafeez22) June 24, 2020
Following the tweet, PCB has shown its disappointment via the board’s CEO Wasim Khan who said that Hafeez has all the right to take a private test, but he should have informed PCB about his decision.
“I spoke to Hafeez today, and I made it clear to him our disappointment at the way he had handled this entire affair,” Waseem said on Cricket Baaz YouTube channel.
“As an individual, he has a right to take a private test, but he should have spoken to us first because he created a problem for us,” he added.
Waseem also gave hints that PCB might take suitable action against Hafeez for breaching the protocols of the board.
“This is not the first time that Hafeez has breached our rules in the media. He doesn’t have a central contract, but once he was selected for the Pakistan team, he has to abide by the rules and regulations for all players, especially pertaining to the use of social media. We are still looking at the matter because it has caused us a lot of problems,” Waseem added further.
As per local reports, tests carried out by PCB were done by Shaukat Khanum Laboratory whereas Hafeez went for the individual test at Chughtai Laboratory in Lahore.