The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) has been hit by the latest outbreak of the Covid pandemic, as "several players and staff" are down with the virus, according to the chief physician of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB).
“A few players and staff members have tested positive for Covid-19,” Dr Debashish Chowdhury, the chief physician of BCB, told the media on Tuesday.
Over the last two days, some players took part in individual or unofficial practice sessions at the BCB Academy. None of them were part of the team bio-bubble, which is yet to come into effect.
“Most of the players are scheduled to provide their test samples on Tuesday, and we will see how many return positive.”
He, however, did not disclose the names of the players down with Covid, or their respective teams.
The players whose test result will return negative will join their respective team's bio-bubble. Consequently, those who test positive will need to remain in isolation, Debashish added.
This year’s BPL has been rebranded as the Bangabandhu BPL to celebrate the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
The first match of the BPL will take place on January 21 at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.
A total of six teams are taking part in this year’s BPL, which will be played in Dhaka, Chattogram and Sylhet.
With only three days to go, teams have not yet started their official preparations. But they are expected to do so by Wednesday.
Many foreign recruits are already in Dhaka, and many are scheduled to reach the capital soon.
Some members of the foreign coaching staff have already reached Dhaka and joined their respective teams as well.
