Tigers get three-day break as BCB assesses future
Although the long and anxious wait to find out the fate of the Tigers' upcoming tour of Sri Lanka is still in the same uncertain state, it is almost certain that the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) will come to a decision in the coming days.
Upon completion of a week-long training schedule at their bio-secure residential camp, Bangladesh's 27-member preliminary squad were given a three-day break yesterday.
The Tigers were originally scheduled to travel to the island nation today, but the tour has been delayed as the BCB are yet to receive the health protocols from Sri Lanka Cricket.
"We were supposed to leave for Sri Lanka tomorrow but we are not being able to do so. Head coach [Russel Domingo], selectors and BCB CEO [Nizamuddin Chowdhury] sat for a meeting and decided to give a three-day break to the players. We will return to training after three days and we hope that we will get a response from the SLC in two-three days," said BCB's cricket operation head Akram Khan yesterday.
The BCB appear hopeful and are now planning to travel to Sri Lanka between October 7 and 10, although the revised health protocols will arrive after SLC officials receive guidance from the country's Covid-19 task force.
"If everything remains positive, we hope to go on the tour sometime between the 7th and 10th of the next month. Since the Lanka Premier League (LPL) has also been delayed, they have time," Akram added.
The former Bangladesh captain also informed that the BCB was moving forward according to plan and that even if the tour eventually got cancelled, the board would focus on domestic cricket.
Akram was asked whether the board would look for a new batting consultant after Craig McMillan decided not to join the Tigers for the Sri Lanka tour, but he replied that the BCB were concentrating more on the tour for the moment.
There were concerns that the three-day break would make it tougher to re-create a bio-secure bubble as the players were being allowed to return to their families, but BCB's chief physician Debashish Chowdhury allayed them.
"The cricketers have been allowed to go home for this break. This of course means the bubble will pop. However, depending on the decision due in a couple of days, we can make the cricketers regroup again and create a bubble. The process will be similar to what it has been so far," said Debashish.
"We have to do a fresh testing for Covid-19," he said, adding that they did not complete the last Covid-19 test that was expected to be completed 72 hours before their departure. When queried on the length of the new bubble, Debashish said: "It will depend on the guidelines from SLC."
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