Last Updated on 5 years by Charbel Coorey
Sri Lanka-Bangladesh series gets postponed yet again
The Sri Lanka-Bangladesh three-match Test series has been postponed yet again due to disagreement between the two boards over duration of quarantine. The Sri Lankan Cricket board had insisted on 14 days of self-isolation for the players limiting their movement to their hotel rooms but the proposal was rejected by BCB. Nazmul Hassan said that the tour has not been cancelled, but the disagreement on this one matter has led to postponement on October 23 in Pallekele.
“Any tourist who is entering Sri Lanka has to abide by this rule [of 14 days in quarantine]. They (SLC) have told us that they couldn’t do anything about this point (quarantine). We have informed them that we have to reschedule the tour to a time when things will improve. We cannot play the ICC Test Championship according to their guidelines. Their cricket board and sports ministry tried very hard. They agreed to all but one of our requirements, but that one is the real one. The 14-day quarantine”, Hassan said.
In recent times, Sri Lanka has seen remarkable reduction in the spread of Covid-19 virus and life has gone back to normal in major parts of the country. The country has recorded only 13 deaths in recent times. “There’s a difference between ‘quarantine’ and ‘isolation’. “If we put someone in home quarantine, he or she cannot get out of the house. But when someone is Covid positive, we put them in isolation which means that person can’t get out of the room. What they are mentioning as ‘quarantine’ is actually full isolation, which means the person cannot get out of the room. A cricketer will need a long time to regain [fitness] – physically and mentally – from this isolation. In that situation, it won’t be possible to play, we have said it before”, Hassan said.
On the other hand, BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury says that the decision to postpone the tour was necessary because the health guidelines would not allow the Bangladesh players to prepare properly for the series. “We have always maintained that preparation of the team was a priority as the players are coming off a six-month gap from any cricket due to the COVID-19 situation in the country,” Chowdhury said. “Therefore, in line with the standard practice in relation to COVID-19 and quarantine for cricket teams in countries where the game has resumed, we wanted the Bangladesh Team to have proper training opportunities in Sri Lanka before they started playing. We never considered fielding an unprepared side in international cricket”.
Written by Anjali Jha. Follow Anjali on Twitter today.
