Uncertainty continues for Tigers
While cricketers have stepped into a bio-secure bubble and have finally started group training from Sunday after a long wait, the main purpose of the residential camp for the 27-member preliminary squad -- the tour of Sri Lanka – was still under a cloud of uncertainty yesterday.
It has been an anxious wait both for Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and the cricketers, who have checked into a city hotel with the aim to fly for the island nation for the three-match Test series.
According to sources, the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) officials were supposed to send the revised health protocol for the upcoming tour by yesterday and it was expected that the BCB would reveal the revised health protocol sent by the SLC to the media today.
It was also learned that the BCB would sit in discussion with the board members over the revised health protocol before making the final decision of whether to tour Sri Lanka or not.
There has however been no information either from the BCB or the SLC about the revised directives about touring safely during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Earlier, BCB President Nazmul Hassan rejected the health protocol sent by the SLC, under which the visitors had to undergo a mandatory 14-day strict quarantine. Since then the SLC had a series of meeting with its government's health authority and requested that the quarantine protocols be relaxed.
Meanwhile, much like the BCB officials the cricketers also seemed clueless despite starting group training. There was curiosity among the players about whether the tour will finally get the green signal.
"It's good that we have finally started the group training and are now under a bio-secure environment. But we are still curious about whether the tour will finally happen or not as it is a psychological thing that works in our mind and it's better if we get to know about that soon," said a national cricketer, who preferred not to be named.
Cricket in Bangladesh has been halted since mid-March due to the coronavirus outbreak worldwide and the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka will be a comeback for the Tigers in international cricket after a gap of over six months.
But with the scheduled departure date approaching, the uncertainty hangs heavy on the players and the board. The training, however, may still prove valuable as the BCB boss said that they would start domestic cricket soon if the tour does not go ahead.
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