Mahmudullah optimistic regarding Asia Cup, WCT20
image: Cricfrenzy
|| CF Correspondent ||
Bangladesh Twenty20 captain Mahmudullah was optimistic that the Asia Cup Twenty20 and the Twenty20 World Cup scheduled this year would eventually go ahead and said that he is ready to go for quarantine after arriving in respective countries.
In order to play in both the tournaments or to play a series abroad, cricketers and officials might have to stay in quarantine for some time, like the West Indies team currently was in England, to form a bio-safety bubble around them.
Mahmudullah was ready to stay in quarantine for the sake of everyone’s safety.
‘‘I think it’s quite obvious that when you go to the host country of the tournament you will have to stay in quarantine just to make sure that everyone is healthy and fine,’’ Mahmudullah was quoted in New Age on Saturday.
The International Cricket Council and the Asian Cricket Council’s apex bodies recently held video-conferences to discuss the fate of the respective tournaments but both were yet to make any final decision.
Crowds appear a certainty at Australian cricket grounds this summer and the case for the T20 World Cup has improved after the federal government's announcement that some venues will be able to host up to 10,000 spectators for sporting events from July.
At the moment the move only applies to grounds with a capacity below 40,000 so excludes the five major Test venues - MCG, SCG, Adelaide Oval, Gabba and Perth Stadium - but would cover some of the smaller grounds used for cricket, including Hobart, the WACA and Metricon Stadium on the Gold Coast, and is another positive step as sport continues its comeback in Australia. South Australia and Queensland state governments have also said they plan to reopen their borders in July as domestic travel restrictions are eased.
There is a possibility that Asia Cup will be played in September with the Pakistan Cricket Board reportedly proposing to swap their hosting rights to Sri Lanka Cricket, who were keen to host the tournament.
‘‘We are still unsure about the Asia Cup Twenty20 and Twenty20 World Cup because there are still a lot of things to be measured and a lot of decisions to be made regarding the tournaments,’’ said Mahmudullah.
‘’We are still waiting for the green signal from ICC. But if you ask me, I am very much up for it and I think every cricketer wants to be part of such tournaments like Asia Cup and T20 World Cup,’ he added.
‘‘I hope the tournaments would happen on time. If not, then we could still wait a bit longer. But we want to play in these tournaments as they are highly prestigious,’’ he concluded.
