National team training back after 193 days
After six months, cricketers started practising. Bangladesh played their last international match on March 11. Since then, they never trained as a team prior to this.
When asked when they last trained as a team, the cricketers seemed to have forgotten the answer. That suggests how long they have been away from training. After a six-month long break, finally the Bangladeshi cricketers started training as a team on Sunday. As many as 193 days have passed since they did so before.
Ahead of the Sri Lanka tour, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has announced a 27-man squad for skill training. After six months, cricketers started practising. Bangladesh played their last international match on March 11. Since then, they never trained as a team prior to this.
But not all the cricketers took part in the training. 16 cricketers were seen training in the Mirpur Sher-E-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.
Saif Hassan who earlier tested positive for Covid-19 has been in self-isolation in his residence. The BCB has informed that 10 cricketers have been instructed to isolate themselves in the academy building for Covid-19 concerns. The cricketers who have isolated themselves in the academy ground are Mohammad Mithun, Hasan Mahmud, Nayeem Hasan, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Khaled Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain, Abu Jayed, Mosaddek Hossain, Shafiul Islam and Mohammad Saifuddin.
The rest of them were asked to join the practice session at 2.45 pm. At the beginning, the cricketers had a meeting with the head coach Russell Domingo, bowling coach Otis Gibson, fielding coach Ryan Cook, trainer Nicholas Lee and physio Julian Calefato.
The cricketers who trained on Sunday include Mushfiqur Rahim, Al Amin Hossain, Shadman Islam, Tamim Iqbal, Taskin Ahmed, Yasir Ali, Rubel Hossain, Mehidy Hasan, Nurul Hasan, Taijul Islam, Mahmudullah, Mustafizur Rahman, Mominul Haque, Imrul Kayes, Soumya Sarkar and Liton Das.
The training session started with stretching. The cricketers warmed up playing football for some time. After that, they started batting and bowling as part of the skill training. Liton Das was seen struggling a bit early on against Al Amin and Taskin but soon settled down.
Apart from Liton, Mominul, Mahmudullah, Imrul and Yasir did batting practice while Taskin, Al Amin, Rubel, Mustafizur, Soumya, Taijul and Mehidy bowled at the nets.
After training for two and a half hours, the cricketers and supporting staff went to Hotel Sonargoan. Taskin and Mehidy had checked in on Saturday. Rest of them checked in after practice on Sunday.
The cricketers and the staff will undergo the third round of testing on September 21. In this phase, these ten cricketers and Saif Hassan will also be tested. If their results turn out negative, they will be able to start training.