It is not possible for Bangladesh national team to tour Sri Lanka under the conditions fixed by Sri Lanka Cricket, the host cricket board. 

Bangladesh Cricket Board [BCB] president Nazmul Hasan made the remark after a meeting of the board directors in BCB headquarters at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Monday.

Bangladesh’s tour of Sri Lanka for the three-match Test series was pushed into uncertainty due to the conditions set by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC). 

BCB was initially informed that the touring contingent will require no Covid-19 quarantine upon reaching the island on September 27 and that they could step on the field from the next day to prepare for the series scheduled to start on October 23.

However, developments in the discussion saw SLC come with protocols that put BCB in dilemma. SLC insisted that the touring party would require a 14-day long strict quarantine at the hotel and also that the team should not be more than of 30 members including the coaching staff. 

Restriction over number of members in the team meant BCB’s plan of making its high-performance unit tour Sri Lanka alongside the national team was put in jeopardy.

“A lot of terms are new to us. Many countries have seven-day quarantine but the touring team there are allowed to practice. At some places teams are being allowed to get to the field after three-day quarantine. But the terms given by SLC yesterday (Sunday) says none of our team members will be allowed to go out even from the room for 14-days. Not even to have a food. We feel there is some reason behind this. We feel that may be they are dealing a tough situation with Covid-19 which we don’t know about. They are playing domestic games there but when it came to us they are trying to impose these restrictions,” Nazmul addressed the media following the meeting on Monday at SBNS.

BDST: 1743 HRS, SEP 14, 2020
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