BCB urged cricketers to focus on fitness at home
Image : Getty
|| CF Correspondent ||
Bangladesh Cricket Board’s fitness trainer Iftekhairul Islam on Saturday urged the cricketers to keep an eye on their fitness during the coronavirus enforced shutdown of all sorts of cricket-related activities and advised them to take all necessary precautions to fight against the deadly virus.
Bangladesh became part of the global cricket lockdown on Thursday, when the BCB called of all scheduled matches of the Dhaka Premier League till March 31 in response to government’s advice to suspend all sports related activities till the end of March.
BCB had already indefinitely postponed their ‘Mujib-100’ festivities and the final leg of the national team’s three-part Pakistan tour on April due to the pandemic.
Bangladesh’s Ireland tour, scheduled to take place from May 14-29, was also deferred on Saturday by both country’s cricket boards with the situation worsening in the United Kingdom.
With the coronavirus outbreak getting more severe every day and the return of cricket looking far out of sight, many of the cricketers have left the capital and are living with their families in their familial residence.
‘’As a fitness trainer I want to say that this is a very critical period for the players. Most of our players have returned to their district homes. I want to urge all of them to look after their fitness,’ Iftekhairul said in a video posted in his facebook account.
‘‘It is possible to maintain one’s fitness inside the house. I request all of them to contact us if they face any sort of problem. We will try from time to time to give them fitness related advice,’’ he added.
Iftekhairul imposed the highest importance to the health and wellbeing of the cricketers and told them to follow the appropriate guidelines in this time of crisis, while hoping that the endemic will end soon.
‘’Until the next announcement comes I hope that everyone stays indoors, stays healthy and spends quality time with their family. We should all try to maintain some distance with other people, even if they have close ties with our families,’’
‘’I am hoping that in a few days the situation will improve and we will return to our cricketing family soon,’ he said.
The coronavirus outbreak in Bangladesh is becoming more serious, with four new patients getting detected on Saturday taking the tally to 24 and the country also reported the second coronavirus death on the same day.
In light of the developing situation, the BCB has instructed its staff to work from their residence starting from today in a media release issued on Saturday.
In response to the evolving COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, the BCB has instructed its staff to work remotely until further notice from Sunday [22 March 2020],’ the media release said
