Sheldon Cottrell, two other West Indies cricketers test positive for COVID-19 in Pakistan

ST JOHN'S ( ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA): Three West Indies cricket players and a member of the team staff have tested positive for coronavirus on arriving in Pakistan and will miss the upcoming limited-overs series, Cricket West Indies (CWI) said on Saturday.

Left-arm pacer Sheldon Cottrell, all-rounders Roston Chase and Kyle Mayers and a non-coaching staff member "returned positive tests in Karachi and will therefore be unavailable to participate in the upcoming Pakistan series," CWI said in a statement. 

All four had been fully vaccinated and are without major symptoms. They will remain in isolation for 10 days and until they return negative PCR test results. "Our arrival testing protocols in Pakistan have confirmed four COVID-19 positives," said CWI chief executive Johnny Grave.

"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.

"The risk of COVID-19 infection is impossible to remove completely from a cricket tour, in spite of the fact that many of our players have been living in bio-secure bubbles almost continuously since before the CPL. 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," he added.

Cottrell, Chase and Mayers were all included in the squad for a three-match T20I series starting on Monday. Chase was also selected for the three one-day internationals that follow in Karachi between December 18 and 22.