ODI in Chattogram, T20I in Dhaka: BCB CEO

The upcoming three one-day international matches between Bangladesh and Afghanistan will take place in Chattogram while the following two-match T20I series will take place in Dhaka, Bangladesh Cricket Board’s Chief Executive Officer Nizamuddin Chowdhury informed on Wednesday.

Afghanistan are scheduled to arrive in Bangladesh to play a three-match ODI series and a two-match T20I series.

Nizamuddin told the reporters on Wednesday that the Afghan cricket team will arrive in Bangladesh a few days before the series for a conditioning camp.

“Afghanistan has requested us to organise a conditioning camp for them before the series. As per their request and the ongoing pandemic situation, we have decided to host the training camp at Sylhet. As per latest discussions, their arrival date is February 12,” said the CEO.

“They will take a connecting flight from Dhaka to Sylhet and will have the conditioning camp there under the standard biosafety protocol,” he said.

The ongoing Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League will conclude on February 18, with the final match at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. The three-match ODI series is likely to start from February 23 in Chattogram. After the ODI series, both the teams will head back to Dhaka for the T20 series.

“We have planned to host the ODI series in Chattogram and the T20I series in Dhaka,” Nizamuddin told the reporters.

During the series against Pakistan, which was the last international cricket series in Bangladesh, limited spectators were allowed inside the stadium but currently, BPL is going on in empty stadiums as Covid-19 cases are spiking. BCB is waiting for the government’s orders to take that call.

“No final decision has been taken yet regarding spectators. We will follow the government’s directive. If the government directive continues like this, then we will act accordingly,” he said.

Jamie Siddons was expected to land in Dhaka on Wednesday to work as a batting consultant but his placement is not yet confirmed, Nizamuddin said that he is BCB will deploy him on need-based mode.

“Siddons is BCB’s batting consultant, and Ashwell Prince is the national team’s batting coach. We will sort things out after Siddons’ arrival. We will also try to employ the pace bowling coach before the start of the Afghanistan series,” told the BCB CEO.

On January 29, Afghanistan Cricket Board postponed their tour of Zimbabwe for various reasons. Among them, a key point was that Zimbabwe Cricket failed to secure the required broadcast services, including DRS. BCB also failed to secure the services from DRS providers in the BPL, but the CEO is hopeful that in the last stage of the BPL and Afghanistan series the DRS will be available.

“We have already started working on it. We plan to make DRS available during the last stage matches of BPL in Dhaka and the Afghanistan series,” he said on Wednesday.