Bangladesh Cricket

BCB waits for Asia Cup decision to bring players back to the field

Online Desk

7 Jul 20 17:50:50

Image : Collected

|| CF Correspondent ||

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) wants to bring its players back to the field for practice, the matter which depends on the timing of the imminent T20 Asia Cup ahead of the 2020 ICC T20 World Cup in Australia.

Like the other cricketing nations, Bangladesh have already postponed their five bilateral series this year in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic situation. Tigers have two big events of the Twenty20 World Cup and T20 Asia Cup up ahead.

Like the cloud of uncertainty looming around the T20 World Cup which is scheduled to be played in October-November in Australia, the fate of Asia Cup is also the same which is happened to be played in this September. The fate of both big events might be disclosed in this month.

BCB is willing to start the training camp understanding the dynamics of these two tournaments of International Cricket Council (ICC) and Asian Cricket Council (ACC).

The international cricket is going to roll onto the ground once again with the matches of England and West Indies from July 8. Seeing them, many more countries will also return to the cricket field with individual and team practice sessions.

However, BCB does not want to rush to get their cricketers back on the field unless the Asia Cup doesn’t happen in September.

BCB Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Nizamuddin Chowdhury gave the same indication yesterday to a Bengali daily and said they are looking forward to those apex bodies’ decisions.

“We’re looking at both the ICC and ACC tournaments. We don’t have any more international series before or after these two tournaments. At this moment, we’re looking forward to the next tournament (Asia Cup). If it occurs, things will then be different, otherwise we’ll have to wait a little longer,” Nizamuddin Chowdhury said.

BCB Director and its Cricket Operations Committee Chairman Akram Khan however said similar things to the media.

“We’re looking at what will happen at the next ACC meeting,” Akram Khan said.

Last month’s ACC executive meeting was held and expressed their optimism about the Asia Cup, but the chances of the tournament dwindling. The corona situation in India is becoming complex constantly. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is not willing to send their team anywhere, be it the UAE or Sri Lanka.

The Asia Cup gets halted, BCB might then advance slowly not to sit idly, Akram said, adding that they have been planning to start training camp with contracted cricketers for a long time.

“We want to wait another ten to fifteen days to understand the situation. If the situation gets better then the practice can start after Eid,” Akram Khan said.

The BCB director also said that if the corona situation does not deteriorate, they will try to get the players back on the field after Eid.

But before that, Nizamuddin Chowdhury wanted a positive response from the cricketers.

“We have taken our preparation holding meetings with players [senior]. At the moment they are not very positive. Everything we do is player-centric. They have to be mentally prepared,” Nizamuddin said.

BCB, however, is carrying out various activities in the midst of corona from providing financial support to cricketers to online fitness training, regular virtual meetings with cricketers and coaching staff and keeping track of the health of players through the corona app.

Lastly, initiatives have been taken to provide gymnasium fitness equipment to the cricketers' to take homes as per the demand. Yesterday [July 6] Mushfiqur Rahim went to Mirpur at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium to take some equipment from the gym. After a long time, Mushfiqur set foot on the green carpet of Mirpur.

“Assalamualaikum all..Missing this wonderful venue..Only Almighty knows when we can restart practise again