Bangladesh-Sri Lanka Test series in jeopardy
Monday, 14 September 2020
The proposed three-match Test series between Bangladesh and hosts Sri Lanka is in jeopardy as the government of Sri Lanka seems to be reluctant to provide with the facilities that the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has asked, reports UNB.
As per the latest development, the regulation of the Sri Lanka government to tackle the Covid-19 situation cast a long shadow over the fate of the series.
This series was originally scheduled for July-August, but the Covid-19 situation forced the involving parties to reschedule it to October-November.
"We are still on our plan to send our High-performance Unit (HP) to Sri Lanka with the national team. The Sri Lanka board also agreed upon this. But their government has the other observation which they have sent to us. We will see it thoroughly and take the next step as soon as possible. Otherwise, we have nothing more to tell about the future of the series," Naimur Rahman, the board director and chairman of HP, told the media on Sunday.
Every person who enters Sri Lanka is required to maintain a 14-day quarantine to check if he is infected with the Covid-19. But BCB asked Sri Lanka to trim this period to seven days. Sri Lanka board forwarded this proposal to their health department who are yet to come up with a reply.
"As we have talked to Sri Lanka board earlier, they agreed that we can practice during the quarantine period. But now their health department said we can't practice during the quarantine. There are many things which are not under the control of Sri Lanka Cricket. They also asked to reduce the number of tour members," Naimur Rahman added.
As Sri Lanka urged to reduce the members of the touring party, the tour of HP in danger now. However, Naimur Rahman said the tour of the national team is their main priority as they can organise a different camp for the players of HP.
"The tour of the national team should get the utmost priority as this series is a part of the ongoing World Test Championship. If we miss this window, it'll be very tough to manage another window in the coming months. So we have to make the final call keeping all these in mind," Naimur Rahman further added.