Bangladesh national cricket team was scheduled to tour Sri Lanka in June-July, but the fate of the series has been in jeopardy since the onset of the lethal coronavirus pandemic.
The Cricketers’ Welfare Association of Bangladesh (CWAB) said they will follow the instruction of the Bangladesh government regarding this series. They sent a press release stating the decisions taken in the meeting.
“The CWAB hosted a meeting on Sunday night including top national and first-class players. We have discussed the future of Bangladesh’s Sri Lanka series and Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League. Regarding the Sri Lanka series, it was decided that Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) will await the instructions of the Bangladesh government,” the release stated.
CWAB also said the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League will see further delay due to the coronavirus situation of the country. The final decision will be taken observing the situation carefully.
Earlier, Bangladesh missed out on parts of the series against Pakistan that included an ODI and a Test. They also saw their tour of England and Ireland postponed, and a similar fate befell a home series against Australia, that itself had been rescheduled after an earlier postponement.
“All the cricketers were in the field. But suddenly everything is stuck due to the deadly virus. We have nothing to do with this. The whole situation is completely out of human control. It’s a great loss that we cannot play cricket for a long time. But at the same time, we have to accept the reality of what we have been going through since March this year,” Bangladesh Test captain added.
Mominul, however, found a blessing in disguise in the pandemic as he might get Shakib Al Hasan back in the team when the game of cricket will be resumed widely in the post-pandemic world.
“I think it will be a positive thing to get Shakib bhai back in the national team. He is one of our best performers in all forms of cricket. All the series which are postponed were important. We had to play these series without the service of Shakib bhai as he is out of action now. So I believe it will be great for us to have him back in the national team for all the important competitions,” Mominul further told.
Along with Mominul, former captain Mushfiqur Rahim, T20I captain Mahmudullah Riyad, Imrul Kayes, Shahriar Nafees were among the attendees of CWAB meeting. Besides current cricketers, former national captain and CWAB president Naimur Rahman Durjoy, Khaled Mahmud were also presented.
