Three Pakistan cricketers test COVID-19 positive ahead of team's departure to England
Karachi: Pakistan cricketers Shadab Khan, Haris Rauf and rookie Haider Ali on Monday tested positive for COVID-19, raising fresh questions over players' safety ahead of the team's departure to England.
"The Pakistan Cricket Board has confirmed three players Haider Ali, Haris Rauf and Shadab Khan have tested positive for Covid-19," said the PCB in a statement.
"The players had shown no symptoms until they were tested in Rawalpindi on Sunday ahead of the Pakistan men's national cricket team's tour to England.
"The PCB medical panel is in contact with the three who have been advised to immediately go into self-isolation," the statement said further.
Leg-spinner Shadab is the only established member of the team out of the three. Rauf has played only two T20 Internationals while highly-rated batsman Ali had received his maiden call-up for the England tour comprising three Tests and as many T20s.
All the squad members are being tested for coronavirus ahead of the team's departure on June 28.
"Imad Wasim and Usman Shinwari, also screened in Rawalpindi, have tested negative and, as such, will travel to Lahore on 24 June.
"The other players and team officials, barring Cliffe Deacon, Shoaib Malik and Waqar Younis, underwent tests at their respective centres in Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar on Monday.
"Their results are expected at some stage on Tuesday, which will also be announced by the PCB through its usual channels. Until then, the PCB will not make any further comment," the PCB added.
Besides a 29-member squad, the PCB has also named four reserves for the England tour -- Bilal Asif, Imran Butt, Musa Khan and Mohammad Nawaz.
Also on Monday, PCB doctor Sohail Saleem said that the England tour in the midst of the pandemic is a "big risk" but a necessary one.
Earlier this month, former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi had tested positive for the deadly virus. Former Pakistan opener Taufeeq Umar was also tested positive for the virus but he has recovered.
Former Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza had tested COVID-19 positive last week alongside Nazmul Islam and Nafees Iqbal.
The West Indies tour of England beginning next month marks the resumption of international cricket, followed by the Pakistan series. Both series will be played in a bio-secure environment.
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Justice Sanjiv Khanna appointed next CJI, oath on Nov 11
New Delhi, Oct 24: Justice Sanjiv Khanna was on Thursday appointed the 51st Chief Justice of India.
He will take oath on November 11, a day after incumbent Justice D Y Chandrachud demits office on attaining the age of 65.
Justice Chandrachud took over as the CJI on November 8, 2022.
Justice Khanna will have a tenure of a little over six months as CJI and would demit office on May 13, 2025.
"In exercise of the power conferred by the Constitution of India, Hon'ble President, after consultation with Hon'ble Chief Justice of India, is pleased to appoint Shri Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Judge of the Supreme Court of India as Chief Justice of India with effect from 11th November, 2024," Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal posted on X.
Justice Khanna was appointed an additional judge of the Delhi High Court in 2005 and was made a permanent judge in 2006. On January 18, 2019, he was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court.
Born on May 14, 1960, he studied law at the Campus Law Centre of Delhi University.
Some of the notable judgments of Justice Khanna in the Supreme Court include upholding the use of electronic voting machines in elections, saying the devices were secure and eliminated booth capturing and bogus voting.
He was also part of the five-judge bench that declared the electoral bond scheme, meant for funding of political parties, as unconstitutional.
Justice Khanna was a part of the five-judge bench, which upheld the Centre's 2019 decision abrogating Article 370 of the Constitution which granted a special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Justice Khanna, who is the senior-most judge after the outgoing CJI, and the executive chairman of the National Legal Service Authority (NALSA), had granted interim bail to the then Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, an accused in the alleged Delhi excise policy scam cases, for campaigning in Lok Sabha elections.
He is the nephew of former apex court judge H R Khanna, who was part of the landmark verdict propounding the basic structure doctrine in Kesavananda Bharati case of 1973.
The retirement age of Supreme Court judges is 65 years, while high court judges demit office at the age of 62 years.
The Centre recently asked CJI Chandrachud to name his successor.
According to the memorandum of procedure (MoP) -- a set of documents guiding appointment, elevation and transfer of high court and Supreme Court judges -- the law minister writes to the CJI to name his or her successor.
Law Minister Meghwal had written to CJI Chandrachud asking him to name his successor.
The MoP says the senior-most judge of the apex court is considered fit to hold the office of the CJI and the views of the outgoing head of the judiciary have to be sought "at an appropriate time".
The MoP, however, does not specify the time limit for the initiation of the process of recommending the name of the successor CJI.
In exercise of the power conferred by the Constitution of India, Hon’ble President, after consultation with Hon’ble Chief Justice of India, is pleased to appoint Shri Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Judge of the Supreme Court of India as Chief Justice of India with effect from 11th…
— Arjun Ram Meghwal (@arjunrammeghwal) October 24, 2024
