Bangladesh lost key players in the Covid protocol to the Australian cricket series

Granted: 27/07/2021 – 10:32

Dhaka (AFP)

Bangladesh has ruled out batsmen Mushfiqur Rahim and Liton Das Twenty20 against Australia next month as they left the team’s coronavirus bubble, a top official said Tuesday.

Mushfiqur and Liton left for a recent tour of Zimbabwe early due to family emergencies and must separate themselves before joining the ranks, said Nizam Uddin Chowdhury, director general of the Bangladesh Cricket Board.

“The agreed protocol with Australia is that the player must be in a biosafety area at least 10 days before the series,” Chowdhury told AFP.

Australia are expected to arrive in Bangladesh on Wednesday in a five-match series starting on August 3rd.

“Liton left the biosafety area in Zimbabwe on Monday. Had he returned with the team, he would have been eligible. Because he left the team early and mixed with the community, he could not be considered for the series,” Chowdhury said.

“The same goes for Mushfiqur. We talked with the Australian team to shorten the period to eight days to include Mushfiqur. But their medical team didn’t agree,” he added.

Wicketkeeper striker Mushfiqur returned from a tour of Bangladesh’s Zimbabwe on July 14th. In order to participate in the series, he had to be in the bubble on July 20th.

Both teams and match officials will stay at the same hotel, which closed on July 20, before games at Dhaka’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on August 3, 4, 6, 7 and 9.

“The series is firmly on the road. There is no question of postponing it now,” Chowdhury said.

Bangladesh is also without star player Tamim Iqbal in the series due to a knee injury that leaves him aside for up to 10 weeks.

2021 AFP