The news of Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Nazmul Islam and Nafees Iqbal contracting coronavirus has forced the Bangladesh Cricket Board to reevaluate their tentative plans of resuming national team’s training from next month.
Chief selector Minhazul Abedin told the media earlier that the board was hoping to resume national team’s training in mid-July.
But on Saturday, two active cricketers Mashrafe and Nazmul, and Khelaghar Samaj Kallyan Samity’s coach Nafees revealed that they have tested positive for COVID-19, giving the cricket board high-ups a reality check of the troubling corona situation of the country.
BCB director and chairman of game development committee Khaled Mahmud on Sunday said the board never had a set date for restarting training but they were in discussions to determine a suitable time.
Mahmud personally felt that it was not realistic to resume cricketing activities in a month as the death toll continued to climb.
‘It’s not that Mashrafe or Apu [Nazmul] or someone else is infected. The overall condition is getting worse. Anyone could be infected now because the spread is now at community level. So I don’t think it’s possible to start player’s training in July because we are seeing an inclining curve,’ Mahmud told.
‘When we will see that the curve is declining, then we might consider but that also not before a month or even more’, said the BCB director.
Few cricketers had requested BCB to open personal training facilities at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium but Mahmud thought it would not be wise.
‘Mirpur is in red-zone. How can we allow players to train there? There are strict directives from the government also. The situation is not good,’ said the former captain.
Mahmud, who is also a member of Cricketers Welfare Association of Bangladesh, said that many players were also not interested to resume play which reflected in their change of stance about resuming the Dhaka Premier League.
Debashis Chowdhury, chief medical officer at BCB told New Age that they had already chalked out training modules but the board has not finalised anything yet.
‘We have prepared three types of plan. But there is no set date of resuming the game… If the BCB high officials consider about a possible restart, we are ready to provide the plan.’
Mashrafe, Nazmul and Nafees were actively taking part in various humanitarian activities during the pandemic but their charitable gestures had also put them under increased risk of contracting the virus.
Mashrafe’s mother-in-law, his wife’s sister and her kids had already tested positive for corona and now Nazmul’s parents and Nafees’s mother, wife and a housemaid were also found to be carrying the virus.
Debashis applauded the effort of the cricketers in these uncertain times but urged everyone to practice caution at all times for the sake of theirs and their family’s health.
‘I have also taken part in donation programme. But one has to stay alert, maintaining the distances because coronavirus carriers don’t show any visible symptoms like rash or red-eyes etc.’ -new age
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