Players to undergo Covid test as a fan breach bio-security

All the cricketers of Bangladesh and Pakistan cricket team will undergo a covid test on Sunday because of the breach in bio-security, caused by an over enthusiast fan.

On the second day of fans returning to the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur, an unpleasant incident took place as a fan climbed down from the gallery and reached Bangladesh seamer, Mustafizur Rahman.

After the 13th over of the Pakistan innings came to an end, a fan climbed down from the Northern stand of the stadium, climbed the fence that separates the field from the gallery, and then evaded five security guards to get in the field.

Once he got into the field, he ran straight up to Mustafiz. The pacer tried to evade the fan, but he was persistent, and despite umpire Tanvir Ahmed telling him not to go near Mustafiz, the fan bowed down to ‘The Fizz’.

The over enthusiast fan was then escorted out of the field, and while leaving, he greeted the crowd as if he had achieved something remarkable. Rather, he did quite the opposite as the series is being held under Covid-19 protocols.

Mustafiz was taken off the field just after bowling one ball after the incident took place, due to side strain.

According to a messege from BCB, the left-arm pacer felt sudden pain and he is doubtful for the third T20i,

‘Mustafiz felt sudden pain in his side during his second over of bowling today. He will be reassessed again tomorrow and a decision will be made on whether he will be match-fit for the final T20 international of the series’, read the message.

The whole team will have to face consequences for the incident, as all the players of the team will be tested for Covid-19, a BCB physician informed The Business Post.

“Not just Mustafiz, all the players will be tested for Covid-19. And about Mustafiz being taken off, there is no injury problem, but I am not sure why he was taken off,” the BCB physician told TBP.

This puts the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s security in question as there were not enough vigilant manpower to stop the fan from reaching the field, despite a lot of security guards always moving around the field.

With this series being the first to allow spectators after a long break of more than a year and a half, a breach in security in just the second day might see negative repercussions, even leading BCB to not allow fans in the upcoming third T20I and the two Test matches.

This is not the first time this happened in SBNCS. During an ODI series vs Afghanistan in 2016, a fan entered the field to hug then Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza. That also put the security issue in front, as England were set to tour Bangladesh right after and later on, English skipper Eoin Morgan skipped the tour citing security reasons.