Mixed feelings for Tigers

"Sri Lanka has tackled the coronavirus situation very well. They formed an independent task force and I felt that the Sri Lankan board had very little to do about this issue. But if SLC had informed their limitations to the BCB a bit earlier then things may have been different. The BCB could have changed their plans . It was very important for the players ahead of next year's tour of New Zealand."

Raqibul Hasan

Former Bangladesh captain

"Even if we had to ease up on some things, the tour was necessary. It would have been extremely beneficial for Bangladesh cricket. Staying without international cricket for so long is not going to be pleasant for Bangladesh. Besides that, no matter which country we go to, we will have to face similar protocols. Another reason we should have toured is because Sri Lanka is a country where we had a good chance to get some points on the board for the World Test Championship."

Aminul Islam

Former Bangladesh captain

There have been mixed feelings from cricketers over the cancellation of the Tigers' tour of Sri Lanka after the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) failed to agree with the revised health protocol from Sri Lanka Cricket.

There were lot of speculations over the tour right from the off and a strict 14-day mandatory quarantine protocol set by the Sri Lankan government seemed like a big hurdle for the visitors to overcome to take part in the three-match Test series under the ICC Test Championship. 

Considering the current coronavirus situation in Bangladesh, BCB had planned to prepare the cricketers in Sri Lanka for the series since the national players were out of competitive cricket for more than seven months. 

BCB had arranged a residential camp for the 27-member preliminary squad by creating a bio-secure bubble with the Sri Lanka tour in mind. A series of Covid-19 tests were also conducted on every member of the squad with the series in mind. 

However, despite those initiatives, there was a sense of uncertainty and concern for the cricketers as a strict quarantine would force them stay confined in their hotel rooms for 14 days without any scope of venturing out, not even to have a meal.

This kept the cricketers thinking about their performance and whether they would be able to cope up in a short time for the series after the completion of the quarantine. 

"Obviously it felt bad to hear that the tour is postponed as we were waiting to make a comeback to international cricket with this series," Test captain Mominul Haque told The Daily Star in his reaction to cancellation of the series.

"We have already started training maintaining all the safety measures. But we will also have to accept the reality and such things are not in your control. However, I am looking forward to the coming days and hopefully we will be able to play international cricket soon," Mominul added. 

The sentiment was pretty much similar for pacer Taskin Ahmed, who played his last Test back in 2017 and was eager to return to the Test side. 

"I was desperately looking forward to this series as I was working hard to make a comeback to the Test side. But I am still positive and whenever I get an opportunity, I will try to grab it," said Taskin. 

On the other hand, wicket-keeper batsman Mohammad Mithun was of the opinion that it would not have been possible for the players to play a series after completing a 14-day strict quarantine. 

"We were confused during the entire training camp whether the tour will eventually happen or not. We were not getting a clear picture and without any specific target you cannot prepare yourself. In my opinion, it is good that the series eventually got cancelled as it wouldn't have been possible for any cricketer to quarantine for 14 days and play on a tour," said Mithun.