Uncertainty looming over Bangladesh's tour to Sri Lanka

Bangladesh's tour to Sri Lanka was confirmed last month. After a couple of rounds of Covid-19 screening, the cricketers are supposed to check in at the hotel on September 20. They will start training as a team from September 21 before flying to Sri Lanka.

Last-moment preparation is going on right now and only an official announcement awaits regarding the tour. But some uncertainty has been created regarding the  quarantine period.

The Sri Lankan Cricket (SLC) previously informed the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) that the period must be 14 days. But the BCB let the SLC know that they cannot afford to quarantine themselves for more than seven days.

After that, the SLC told the BCB that it had no objection to BCB's proposal but all depends on what Sri Lanka's directorate of health decides. 

After a meeting on Sunday, director of the BCB Naimur Rahman Durjoy said, "We are sticking to the plan of sending both national team and High Performance (HP) team to Sri Lanka. The SLC agreed with us mostly. But their health ministry has some observations and that's why aren't rushing to a decision."

"We have arranged a  meeting to discuss these things and we will soon let them know about our observations. We are yet to decide on this. Once the SLC speaks to us after consulting their health ministry, we will inform them our demands," Durjoy added.

According to him, both the boards have decided on a seven-day quarantine period but Sri Lankan health ministry wants the period to be extended to 14 days.

The SLC previously said that the players would be allowed to train during the quarantine period. But it has changed its mind, saying that the players cannot leave the hotel during that period. Even it has asked the BCB to reduce the number of players touring Sri Lanka.

"They earlier told us that the players could practice during the quarantine period. But now they are saying that it's not possible.  We are going to inform them our demands. But it's not the SLC that has the right to decide. Another issue is the number of players. We are going to inform them our proposal regarding this too," Durjoy mentioned.

"The environment needs to be perfect when you are going to play cricket after such a long break. We need to make sure that the players can prepare accordingly ahead of the series. They have to play Test matches, so the preparation needs to be spot on. Both the boards have been sincere so that the series happens," Naimur Rahman Durjoy concluded.