The new normal in the Covid-19 era has made life more difficult than ever for cricketers in terms of adapting to quarantine protocols and keeping fitness standards high.
Fitness has always played a major role in the success for any team in world cricket and the current scenario, where players have had to quarantine and isolate themselves in a room for days, makes it harder for players to work up to full fitness in time for international matches.
Despite landing in New Zealand on February 24, the visiting Bangladesh team will have their first game scenario practice at the John Davies Oval in Queenstown today — 19 days after arrival. The Tigers had to follow a strict 14-day mandatory quarantine protocol before eventually starting group training in Queenstown on March 10 for the five-day training camp.
According to the Tigers’ strength and conditioning coach Nicholas Lee, the cricketers have realised the importance of being fit and the need to gain full fitness in a short span in between travelling and quarantine protocols. “I think it was difficult for some people to start with, because of the jet lag and the time difference. There is quite a substantial time difference between here and Bangladesh. So, for the first week or so, quite a lot of people were getting over the jet lag and adjusting their sleep patterns.
“But I think once they got out to the training field after day seven or eight and were able to use the gym and doing a bit of activity, they started to find it a bit easier to sleep and things got a bit more normal. So, I think now going into the matches they have got enough time to adjust and get themselves ready from a skill and physical point of view,” Lee told the BCB through a video message after the gym session in Queenstown yesterday.
Following the camp in Queenstown, the Tigers will travel to Dunedin for the first of three ODIs scheduled for March 20. The second and third ODIs will take place on March 23 and 26 in Christchurch and Wellington respectively.
The ODI series will be followed by three T20Is to be played on March 28, 30, and April 1 in Hamilton, Napier, and Auckland respectively. Bangladesh is yet to register a win in New Zealand despite playing 26 games across three formats and the Tigers are desperate to change that this time around.
