|| Cricfrenzy Correspondent ||

Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal is all set to return to competitive cricket as he is expected to feature in the second intra-squad two-day match, scheduled to start at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium (SBNCS) today.

Tamim missed the opening game due to a niggle but will be available for the second game which will mark the end of the two-match two-day series played between Ottis Gibson XI and Ryan Cook XI.

Tigers started their bio-secure training camp from September 11 after all cricketers and staff tested negative for COVID-19 ahead of the second phase of a bio-secure training camp which will continue for 15 days.
Test skipper Mominul Haque struck a brilliant century in the two-day intra-squad warm-up game which predictably ended in a draw at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on September 3.

Mominul led the XI named after fielding coach Ryan Cook while Nazmul Hossain Shanto led the team, named after fast bowling coach Ottis Gibson. Meanwhile, though Tamim returned to the squad, there will be no change in captaincy charge.

Bangladeshi cricketers had the taste of competitive cricket for the first time in more than 200 days through the two-day games.

“It’s always nice to play a game of cricket because this intensity cannot be replicated in any practice session,” said Mohammad Mithun, who scored a fifty in a pacer dominated two-day game.

“Certainly coming to bat after so many days makes you feel jittery but it went away after playing couple of shots,” he said.

However, BCB’s decision to give permission to six female cricketers to practice without testing for coronavirus raised quite a few eyebrows regarding BCB’s commitment to the bio bubble environment. BCB formed a 27-member preliminary camp for a one-week residential camp ahead of their Sri Lanka tour which was later postponed. But BCB went on with the practice session which eventually culminated in the two-day intra-squad matches.
BCB already hired two floors of a hotel to house the cricketers and the supporting staff for the tour while the board officials insisted that the hotel staffs who are expected to work with the team will be living in a separate dormitory and they did the coronavirus test of the drivers driving the team bus.

BCB wanted to make sure that the green zone area is not crowded with people from outside to make sure that the cricketers are not in risk of contracting corona. However, BCB decided to permit six national women cricketers to use the gym and academy premise which is located inside the green zone.

Jahanara Alam, Lata Mondal, Shamima Sultana, Rabeya, Sharmin Akter Supta, Nahida Khatun are the six cricketers who received permission to use the gym and academy facility from September 3.

BCB women’s wing manager Touhid Mahmud admitted that the women cricketers did not undergo coronavirus test but insisted that they are not too concerned because women cricketers are practicing when there are no male cricketers around.

“The women cricketers are practicing when there is no activity of the male cricketers,” said Touhid.

BCB Medical Committee Head Debashish Chowdhury admitted that though it’s not an ideal situation but they don’t have much to do as they are trying to sanitise the entire area used by the women cricketers before their male counterpart start using it.