HP squad’s tour of Sri Lanka in doubt
There are question marks over Bangladesh's upcoming tour of Sri Lanka and as per the latest updates, Sri Lanka Cricket is only willing to host the national team and not the High Performance (HP) squad.
SLC have rejected the Bangladesh Cricket Board's (BCB's) request to bring a 65-member contingent, a Sunday Observer report said yesterday.
There had been complications over the delay in finalising health protocols and following SLC officials' discussion with government health authorities, it was decided that a "mandatory 14-day quarantine period" will have to be met as part of safety measures.
Till Saturday no official update was made over the suggested quarantine for the visitors by the Sri Lankan health authorities. But according to BCB, SLC officials had previously informed them of a seven-day quarantine ahead of the three-Test series.
The BCB had planned to send both their national and HP squads after completing a short residential conditioning camp at home. The HP side were supposed to have a training camp along with the national team in Sri Lanka and were expected to play a few warm-up matches before taking part in a series against their Lankan counterparts.
According to sources, SLC has now asked the BCB to reduce that number to 30, which means the HP team's tour may be suspended.
"Nothing is final yet, it will take another three-four days to finalise. We are in constant touch with them. The players and support staff of the national team together total to about 32-34 members. But it's not just about the Sri Lankan board – it's a national issue. They are discussing the matter and we are thinking. Until everything is clear we are unable to talk about HP separately," Naimur Rahman Durjoy, chairman of High Performance unit, told reporters yesterday.
According to BCB, the SLC is facing some problems in developing their plans and may need some late adjustments due to the delay in preparing the official schedule as well as creating a bio-secure bubble.
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