‘Shakib may arrive in two to three days and start practicing’
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury informed that premier all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who is currently at the United States with his family, may arrive in the country within the next two to three days and start practicing on his own at BKSP.
Shakib has been serving a ban, imposed by the ICC last year in October for the all-rounder's failure in reporting corrupt approaches on three occasions. The premier all-rounder's ban is set to come to an end on October 28.
"It has already been informed that Shakib will start practicing on his own. He has chosen BKSP for practicing. To my knowledge, he will be arriving in the country in the next two to three days and will start practicing," informed Nizamuddin.
Earlier, BCB president Nazmul Hassan mentioned that Shakib will join the Tigers in their tour of Sri Lanka. As the three-Test tour of Sri Lanka is slated to begin from October 24, the BCB president remained hopeful of getting the premier all-rounder's services from the second Test.
There is also a possibility of Bangladesh playing a T20 series in Sri Lanka but Nizamuddin informed that they are still waiting for Sri Lanka Cricket's (SLC) official announcement of the schedule.
"SLC will officially announce the schedule. We have got an indication from SLC and are working according to that. The three Tests have been confirmed and we are also discussing suitable venues for the matches. We also hope that all the members of the coaching staff will join us within the first week of our tour in Sri Lanka," informed Nizamuddin.
The BCB is also hopeful about rescheduling all the postponed series upon discussion with respective cricket boards.
The Tigers have faced a total of five series postponements -- the second Test against Pakistan, the Ireland and UK tour, a home series against Australia, New Zealand's tour of Bangladesh for a two-Test series and Bangladesh's tour of Sri Lanka for a three-Test series --. while cricketing activities in the country have been on hold since mid-March.
While the three-Test tour of Sri Lanka has already been confirmed and is scheduled for October-November, the BCB CEO informed that New Zealand's tour of the country will probably be rescheduled for sometime around the middle of next year with the board continuing talks with the other boards about arranging all the postponed series.
"We have come to an understanding with the New Zealand board that we might arrange for their tour sometime in the middle of next year. We will also require a small window for the one Test against Pakistan and we will be discussing with the PCB about rescheduling it. The Sri Lanka tour is already slated. And we have already been in talks with the Australia and Ireland boards," concluded Nizamuddin.