Cricketers take part in physical performance assessment at Bangabandhu Stadium

Bangladesh national team cricketers took part in a fitness drill termed as "Physical performance assessment" held at the newly built tracks of the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka on Saturday. 

The Bangabandhu Stadium is now known for hosting football and athletics but it used to be the premier cricket ground in the early and mid 2000s. The stadium last saw an international cricket match here in January 2005. The much-celebrated opening ceremony of the 2011 Cricket World Cup also took place here.

The session, supervised by the newly appointed strength and conditioning coach Nathan Kiely, started at 6 o'clock in the morning and ended at 7.30 am.

Some 35 cricketers, in and around the national side, participated in the fitness drill that included a 1600m sprint. Fast bowlers Nahid Rana and Tanzim Hasan Sakib finished first in their groups respectively. 

"We chose the athletics track as there was a matter of measuring the time. There are a number of methods that are followed internationally, but what we did was follow the 1600m time trial method. Proper timing can be done in the athletics track, so that's the reason. And the players also found it different and it was something new to them, so that's good as well," said BCB trainer Iftikharul Islam.

Bangladesh are slated to play a five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe, starting on 3 May.