Cricketers to Undergo COVID-19 Test 4 Times

Members of Bangladesh national cricket team are undergoing a COVID-19 test. They will have to undergo this test thrice more ahead of the three-match Test series against Sri Lanka which will commence on October 24.

Under the supervision of BCB, specialist teams are collecting samples from the home of the cricketers. Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah Riyad Soumya Sarkar and Mustafizur Rahman shared some pictures of them on the social media while providing the sample.

''We want to make sure that every member of the Bangladesh cricket team is safe from Covid-19. And, this is why we decided to conduct four tests before they fly for Sri Lanka,'' Debashis Chowdhy, the chief physician of BCB, told the media.

''The other three tests will be held on September 18, 21 and 24 with the final test will be held 72 hours before they take the flight to Sri Lanka so that we can ensure Sri Lanka that none of our cricketers is suffering from the deadly virus,'' he added.

The cricketers were busy in the individual training program for a month before the board halts the programme for a few days as some of the support staff showed symptoms of the virus. Now, the programme will resume on September 9, confirmed BCB.

Bangladesh played their last international match back in March this year against Zimbabwe in Dhaka. Since then, Tigers were stuck at home for months due to the Covid-19 situation in the country. However, BCB allowed them to take part in an individual training programme right before Eid-ul-Adha.

Due to the Covid-19 situation around the globe, at least four series of Bangladesh have been postponed with the series against Sri Lanka which was initially slated to be played in July-August, but both the board agreed upon rescheduling in October-November.