‘Facilities provided to Australia are more than their expectations’
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury mentioned that the facilities that the board is providing to Australia for their upcoming five-match T20I series against Bangladesh should exceed the expectations of the visitors.
"I think the facilities that the Australian team is provided are more than what they've expected. From all the information I've got from them, I think they're satisfied so far. Their [Australia] first condition was to go to the hotel from the airport and a good environment in the hotel. I think they're really happy with everything they've got," the BCB CEO said.
Despite following a stricter covid protocol for the Australia series, Nizamuddin stated that they only had to meet 'a few extra demands' of the visitors.
Bangladesh have previously hosted a couple of international series during the pandemic earlier this year. The Tigers hosted West Indies for three ODIs and two Test matches in January before having Sri Lanka over for a three-match ODI series in May. But the covid safety protocols during those series were not even close in terms of those for the series against the Aussies.
"Australia had a few extra demands over the standard bio-bubble protocol," added Nizamuddin. "And we tried to fulfill those demands, there's nothing much beyond that. So there's no point in seeing it as an exaggeration."
Nizamuddin also emphasized normalizing such rituals from now on, "This is the new normal in the current situation and we have to arrange events in this way."
Special immigration was arranged for the Aussies and the guests were taken to their hotel straight from the airport. Their passports were taken after landing and will only be returned to them after a few days following proper sanitisation.
Also, the pre-agreed terms between the BCB and Cricket Australia (CA) didn't allow Bangladesh's wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim to play the T20I series. Mushfiqur had to leave the bio-bubble in Zimbabwe as he had to return to the country early after both his parents had tested positive for coronavirus. That saw Mushfiqur not fulfilling the 10-day quarantine protocol required for the Australia series, making the Tigers prepare for the challenging series without one of their key players.
Though this is a short series of 13 days, Nizamuddin is confident that the successful arrangement of this series may give the board confidence to arrange the upcoming series against England and New Zealand later this year, "If we can arrange this tournament successfully with the help of everyone, it will have a positive influence on arranging the upcoming tournaments. Our confidence will also increase."
"We have already finished two international events and two domestic tournaments and these led us to acquire experienced manpower. We're utilising these people and we're confident," BCB CEO added.
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