Former Cricketer, Taufeeq Umar, a left-handed batsman, had announced last month of testing positive for the virus and subsequently gone into isolation at home.
Many would remember Umar from the critical group stage clash between India and Pakistan in the 2003 World Cup at Centurion in South Africa, opening the batting with Saeed Anwar. The southpaw was even part of the famous Mohali Test of 2005, where Pakistan saved the game against India by batting out for the last couple of days of the match.
Taufeeq made his sensational debut against Bangladesh in 2001, where he smashed 104. Overall, Umar scored 2963 runs in 44 Test matches and 504 in 22 ODIs before he went out of favour due to lack of form and fitness issues. Umar did make a comeback in a Test match against New Zealand in 2014, which was his last appearance for the country.
To feature in the now-disbanded Masters’ Champions League, Umar drew curtains to his international cricket in 2016. His last first-class game was in 2018, where he represented Sui Northern. Umar then retired from all forms in the game back in October, the same year, in which he completed 10,000 runs in domestic cricket.
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Despite notching up seven centuries and fourteen half-centuries, Umar failed to cement his place in the national side.
“After spending two weeks in isolation my test reports have come negative, Allah has been very kind to me. I am completely healthy. Everyone must take care of themselves and follow precautionary measures.”
Taufeeq Umar played 44 Tests and 22 ODIs for Pakistan in a career spanning 14 years. Although not retired officially, he last played for Pakistan in 2014 and in domestic circuit in 2018. The highlight of his career was his 236-run knock against Sri Lanka in 2011 at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
