Bangladesh's tour of Lanka postponed once again due to non-agreement on quarantine duration

Dhaka: Bangladesh’s tour of Sri Lanka has been postponed once again after the two cricket boards didn’t agree on a stipulated 14-day quarantine as per health safety protocol in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.

Bangladesh were supposed to tour Sri Lanka in July-August for three Test matches but it was postponed because of the global health crisis.

According to the current schedule, Bangladesh was scheduled to travel to Sri Lanka on September 27 with the first Test starting on October 23.

The Sri Lankan health authorities wanted Bangladesh to undergo a 14-day quarantine after touching base, something which the Bangladesh Cricket Board didn’t agree.

The two boards were negotiating over the 14-day quarantine period after BCB president Nazmul Hassan Papon had made it clear that Bangladesh will not go ahead with the tour if the number of quarantine days was not reduced.

“Any tourist who is entering Sri Lanka has to abide by this rule [of 14 days in quarantine]. They [the SLC] have told us that they couldn’t do anything about this point [about quarantine]. We have informed them that we have to reschedule the tour to a time when things will improve,” Hassan was quoted as saying by ”ESPNcricinfo” on Monday.

In a bid to find a solution, the SLC had proposed to their health authorities that the Bangladesh touring team is allowed to do the two-week quarantine split between the two countries. However, the proposal was not accepted.

The health crisis has not hit Sri Lanka as hard as it has hit Bangladesh.

Last week, fast bowler Abu Jayed, a vital member of the touring Bangladesh team, had tested positive for COVID-19.