SLC proposes shifting Tigers’ tour to April

The Bangladesh Cricket Board and Sri Lanka Cricket are in talks to reschedule the twice-postponed tour of Sri Lanka to April next year.

The tour of Sri Lanka was originally scheduled for July-August, 2020, with Bangladesh scheduled to play a three-Test series under the ICC Test Championship. The tour was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Later, the two boards were in discussions about arranging the series in October, but the BCB did not agree to the strict quarantine protocols set by the hosts of staying in a mandatory 14-day quarantine after the Tigers reached the island nation.

"We are in talks with the Sri Lankan cricket board and basically the proposal came from their side. When we were in talks about the Sri Lanka tour in the first stage -- which didn't happen at that time -- we were principally in agreement to play the Test series under the ICC Test Championship in Sri Lanka," BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury told reporters yesterday.

"We are working on finding a window according to the Future Tour Programme and at this stage, we are targeting this tour in April as both countries have an available slot during that time." Meanwhile, the board is also confident about hosting the West Indies in January in a bio-secure bubble by drawing from the experience of hosting two domestic competitions recently.

According to the BCB CEO, the board has been working on a smooth health safety plan to bring international cricket back to Bangladesh as the visitors are scheduled to play a two-match Test and three-match ODI series.  Nizamuddin also said the BCB have almost finalised the Tigers' new batting consultant ahead of the West Indies series and will make an announcement soon.