Sarfaraz Ahmed set to travel to Abu Dhabi after visa clearance

After a prolonged delay, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) authorities have finally issued visas for 6 more individuals, including Quetta Gladiators captain, Sarfraz Ahmed.

Those who have been issued visas include two players, Sarfraz, and Multan Sultans opener Zeeshan Ashraf, and four match officials, and support staff. Seven individuals including three players, Umar Amin, Asif Afridi, and Mohammad Imran have yet to receive the visa.

Those who have travel clearance will gather at Karachi's Jinnah International Airport (including those from Lahore) and will board a chartered flight to Abu Dhabi. The players will spend five days in quarantine before being able to mingle with their respective squads.

Earlier on Sunday, Sarfaraz, and the rest of the players did not get clearance for traveling and were sent back to their hotel from the airport.

Later in the day, the board, after consulting the PSL 6 medical panel and taking into consideration that approval has been obtained to fly the remaining 13 players, including the Quetta Gladiators captain, made arrangements to move these individuals to their respective homes.

Sarfaraz reportedly expressed displeasure after being left stranded at the airport. He also conveyed his reservations to the board.

Quetta’s owner Nadeem Omar termed this incident a display of PCB’s incompetence but refrained from staging a major protest to avoid bringing the league into disrepute.

The remaining matches of HBL PSL 6 were scheduled to restart in the first week of June in Abu Dhabi. But, constant operational challenges have caused further delay to the tournament, forcing the cricket board to consider reducing the number of matches. A final schedule of the remaining matches is expected in the next couple of days.