DHAKA, Aug 3, 2020 (BSS)—While the Bangladesh’s Sri Lanka tour is only for three-match Test series, which is the part of ICC World Test Championship, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) wants to add some limited-over International matches also.
BCB Cricket Operations Chairman Akram khan said, the board decided in principle to tour Sri Lanka and the final decision regarding this should be made in this week.
However, the BCB wants to add some limited-over Internationals matches in this tour, said Akram.
“We’ve been in talk with Sri Lanka and hopefully everything will be finalized within this week,” Akram told the BSS.
“Alongside the Test series, we also want to play some limited-over international matches—be it ODI or T20. We will be able to talk about it when the final decision is made,” he added.
The three-match Test series, originally scheduled to be held in July-August, was mutually postponed by BCB and Sri Lanka Cricket in June even though the Island national was eager to make the tour happen, considering that Sri Lanka is one of the countries to successfully control COVID-19, a deadly virus that left the world stranded.
Bangladeshi players lack of preparedness however was the main reason as the coronavirus forced the cricketers to stay at home.
The window later opened after two major multi-team events –Asia Cup and the ICC Twenty20 World Cup got postponed for the COVID-19 crisis.
That also left a void in Bangladesh’s international calendar, forcing the BCB to facilitate the return of the Tigers in the international arena through the Sri Lanka tour.
The individual training session though began with some players, Bangladesh is yet to set any plan of group practice, which is essential if the Tigers want to prepare them for the grueling series in Sri Lanka.
A total of 14 players who started individual training session, arranged by BCB, showed the rustiness of being confined to the home so long.
Akram said, the board wants to arrange adequate practice matches to shed off the rust of the players before they take on the Sri Lanka.
“We want to play as many practice games as we can to. Considering that our players were away from the cricket for so long, we want to go to Sri Lanka with at least 12 days in hand so that our players can prepare well,” he added.
BCB was also planning a practice match between Bangladesh national team and the High Performance unit in Sri Lanka, a rare thing in cricket which was never seen before.
The Lankan media reported that Sri Lanka doesn’t want the players outside of the Sri Lanka national team to get in contact with the Bangladeshi players, as it increased the risk of COVID-19 infection.