World Cup heroes prepare themselves for Sri Lanka tour
Pic: ICC
|| CF Correspondent ||
While the entire world falls into a grinding halt due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protisthan (BKSP) provides Akbar-Emon and company an opportunity to have held their intense training sessions.
With the training programme the heroes of the 2019 ICC Under-19 World Cup-winning Bangladesh cricket team once again have been seen in the cricket field after a long let-up for the upcoming bilateral tour to Sri Lanka.
A total of seven players of the World Cup winning team will tour to the island nation with the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB)-High Performance (HP) team to play a bilateral series against their Sri Lankan counterparts.
They are Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Murad Hasan, Shaheen Alam, Akbar Ali, Parvez Hossain Emon, Shamim Hossain Patwary and Mahmudul Hasan Joy. BKSP authorities provided their training opportunity to have practice for the seven members of the World Cup winning team. They have been honing their skills and techniques in two sessions of a day since 19 August.
The preliminary squad of the Bangladesh Under-19 Cricket Team has also been practicing at the BKSP field, where their ex-student ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan recently resumed his training after a long-lull to return to his international cricket career.
The training of the World Cup heroes added a new complexion to the BKSP, the sports institution which is considered the cradle of Bangladesh cricket.
BKSP Chief Trainer (cricket) Mashud Hasan has been supervising these renowned players, some of whom are the students of the BKSP including World Cup winning team captain Akbar Ali and Mahmudul Hasan Joy.
“They are performers and highlighted players of the country’s cricket. They applied to the BKSP authority after which they got the opportunity to have held their training here. They are doing their stints by maintaining the health and safety rules and protocols,” Mashud Hasa said.
The BCB had a long-term plan with this team’s players. But the corona changed everything. The series in Sri Lanka is going to remove their regrets. These seven players are going to play in the series for High Performance (HP).
As of now, they are all focused in their respective training session ahead of the Sri Lanka series. As a result, they are preparing themselves for the future games despite having stayed at the unofficial lockdown of the cricket.
Akbar Ali, who led Bangladesh Under-19 cricket team to be champion in the 2019 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup in South Africa, said they are working to get their fitness back along with skills and techniques.
“We didn’t get much chance to work in that way amid the lockdown. But we have tried to maintain our fitness. We have come here in BKSP for the last few days. We’re trying to make ready our fitness along with our skills and techniques. We will get to know the real condition of our fitness within the very few days,” Akbar Ali said.
“We were all at home for so long. Everything is not in right play. We are gradually trying to prepare ourselves,” said Parvez Hossain Emon.
They are expected to tour with the High Performance and the national team in Sri Lanka towards the end of the current month after being held a three-phased corona test.
