Time for Tigers to start stirring?
Since the postponement of the Dhaka Premier League (DPL) in mid-March in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, uncertainty is all that has swirled around Bangladesh cricket.
From the postponements of five bilateral series to cricketers being holed up in their homes, everything had come to an unprecedented standstill.
There have however been developments in the past few days with a number of cricketers resuming individual training -- a test run being monitored by the BCB -- following the board's decision to make training facilities available for interested cricketers. The ray of hope for resumption brightened on Monday, when BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury cleared the order of priorities regarding possible upcoming tours and series.
Will Bangladesh be able to return to the field this year? Nothing is yet certain, but going by what the BCB said, a return to cricket now seems more imminent and the players can at least now see a clearer picture, if not having a specific set target in mind while training.
"Actually, we do not have much time if we plan to resume cricket this year. There are a few steps. A few cricketers have already started practising individually. So, the next major step will involve how we can bring all the players or at least the national cricketers back to the field," Nazmul Abedeen Fahim, who worked at the BCB in many capacities before resigning last year, said.
"It may not be possible to immediately start playing cricket, but if we can get players together then they can do fitness work like running and practising batting and bowling by rotation. The next challenge would be creating a secure environment for players who return to training and enabling them to do skills training or play practice matches, maintaining safety measures," said Fahim.
Even though the cricketers had been maintaining fitness on their own or by following the BCB-made workout plans at their homes for the past few months, the biggest concern for players has been their skills training that they missed out on during the enforced break.
Experienced cricket coach Mohammad Salahuddin said the most important thing for the players now is to return to proper training and for the board to ensure a safe environment.
"Players never forget their skills. They may however take some time to regain their rhythm. It has been a long time since everything was halted. The most important thing now is to return to full-fledged training. I believe that the BCB is capable of maintaining everything and of creating a bio-secure environment for at least the national players. And I think there is no point being afraid anymore as players need to adapt to the situation and get back to training. So, there is no point in waiting anymore," said Salahuddin.
Even national selector Habibul Bashar asked the players not to dwell on the negatives and to just return to playing whenever the opportunity of playing a series or tournament arrives.
"It is now just important to start playing. I don't want to ponder on the negatives like not having proper preparation or not playing cricket for a long time. If we get the chance to play then that will be the biggest positive for us. I think we should be positive about it and start playing whenever we get the opportunity," said Bashar.
With the BCB now actively thinking about resuming cricket and given the hurried nature in which developments may occur amid the pandemic, the one certainty amid all the ambiguity is that the players have to start thinking about training as if matches are just around the corner.