Cricket resumes in Bangladesh after a lengthy break
Image : Cricfrenzy
|| CF Correspondent ||
Bangladesh National team’s cricketers have started their practice at the four designated venues across the country provided by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB).
Since 26 March, all sorts of cricketing activities were halted due to the immense effect of the COVID-19 situation for which cricketers were forced to be confined at home and did their light fitness work while staying at home.
After a four- month- long-break, the home of cricket Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium (SBNCS) in Mirpur has come back to life through the entry of veteran wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad Mithun and Shafiul Islam.
They started their individual practice at 9 am today. Besides, pace bowler Shafiul Islam started practicing from 11:15 am. Mushfiqur Rahim spent about 25 minutes’ running session in the morning at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) ground.
The right-handed batsman then completed 40-45 minutes of batting practice at SBNCS indoor. Mohammad Mithun welded himself after batting practice for 40 minutes at the beginning. After batting, he did the running session at the NCA ground after which pacer Shafiul Islam started the running session around 11:30 am.
Out of the four cricketers living in Dhaka, three have practiced today. Imrul Kayes will practice from Monday.
After a long hiatus, everything seems to be a little difficult for Mithun. The right-handed batsman is hopeful that everything will become easier with the pace of time.
“We got a chance to practice on the field after a four-month lull. So whatever batting, running everything seems a little difficult for all because what-so-ever we have done everything was indoor-centric,” Mohamamd Mithun said in a video message released by the BCB.
“This will take some time to adjust with the outside situation after a long gap of time. But hopefully day by day we will get everything back as before,” he added.
However, three more venues outside of Dhaka, Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong, Sylhet International Cricket Stadium and Khulna Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium, are scheduled to officially start training from today.
Young off-spinner Nayeem Hasan could not start practice in Chittagong due to heavy rainfall. Pacer Syed Khaled Ahmed and off-spinner Nasum Ahmed in Sylhet and off-spinner Mehidy Hasan and wicketkeeper-batsman Nurul Hasan Sohan in Khulna did their practices at respective stadiums.
Earlier, veteran players like Mushfiqur Rahim asked BCB to reopen the grounds so that they can practice individually. BCB initially turned down the request. They have finally reopened the four grounds around the country and allowed nine national cricketers to restart their individual practice in compliance with the hygiene rules.
BCB has arranged this practice for nine cricketers on their own initiative in accordance with the guidelines and hygiene rules given by the International Cricket Council (ICC) amid the deadly coronavirus contagion. The first phase of this exercise will continue till July 26.
