T20 World Cup preparations for Tigers scuppered

It's safe to say that the novel coronavirus has brought the entire sporting world to a standstill.

From football to the olympics to cricket, everything has been put on hold as the world stays in quarantine to battle the spread of Covid-19.

That has meant that cricket in Bangladesh has also been put off indefinitely to ensure that the players and the people that would have come to visit the grounds stay safe and at home.

The 27 crickets who are nationally contracted players for the national team have also come out and shown their support to help battle the virus by donating half of their month's salary.

Over 30 lac taka has been gathered as a result and has once again shown just how big and pivotal the Tigers are for the nation.

But without cricket, the players have hit a stumbling block as we approach the business end of the season.

The Bangabandhu Dhaka Premier League cricket tournament and the two T20Is between World XI and Asia XI were the first events to be cancelled, which were supposed to happen till the end of the month.

And then the final leg of the tour to Pakistan, where Bangladesh would play one ODI and a Test in Karachi and the tour to Ireland and England to play three ODIs and four T20Is were also postponed.

With the ICC T20I World Cup coming up in October this year, it's safe to say that the cancellation of the T20s against Ireland would have scuppered the Tigers' preparations.

Add to that, the Test against Pakistan would have been part of the ICC's World Test Championship and one can understand the importance of these fixtures in the grand scheme of things.

The expectation is that cricket will not have returned back in the country till May, at the very earliest and rescheduling all these matches will not be possible, especially the BDPL games.

ICC has halted all cricket till June at least Australia are set to tour Bangladesh for a couple of Tests too in June.

So that means Bangladesh might have to cramp their games after June, if things improve drastically in Pakistan and Ireland for the Tigers to travel and play.

The likelihood of that happening though is very little and that means that Bangladesh will have to play those games later in June and July if all goes well.

Bangladesh's former top order batsman and the first centurion for the country in ODI cricket, Mehrab Hossain believes that Bangladesh will have enough time to prepare for the T20 World Cup if cricket resumes in June.

"We will still get two months at least to prepare. They will have to get match fit and then let's hope for the best. We are way down in the T20 rankings and if we can get a few wins under our belt and move up the ladder that would be good," he said.

Mehrab however does not see how the matches against Pakistan and Ireland can be rescheduled as the cricketing calendar is "jam packed" but he still hopes that the ICC does the sensible thing and tries to accommodate for the important games.

The year that was supposed to be one of the most jam packed years for all of sports have now been put in disarray and confusion.

The effects of this will not just be physical but also mental as players have to regain their match fitness.

Then there is the impact financially on the players as the ones who make a living via domestic cricket and are not contracted to the national team will be finding this time incredibly different.

The times are a changin' because of the novel coronavirus and as a result, the game that has brought countless moments of joy and brought the country together on many occasions - cricket - cannot be played.

A year where Bangladesh had just started to gain momentum in cricket with a clean sweep in all three formats against Zimbabwe, after a disastrous start against Pakistan has once again become a frustrating one as players and fans play the waiting game.