#Title

PREPARATIONS HAMPERED as practice match postponed
SPORTS REPORTER
The first of the two three-day practice matches of the national team, scheduled to begin today in Chattogram, has been postponed due to the ongoing unrest in the country as cricket in Bangladesh remains at a standstill during the ongoing unrest.
“A decision on the Bangladesh Tigers camp is due but the match is not taking place tomorrow [today],” one Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) official told The Daily Star yesterday.
The BCB is still hopeful about holding the matches, which were originally scheduled to begin on July 23 and 29 respectively, once the situation improves.
“The players are still at the hotel and we are hoping that when the situation improves, we will play the games. They have been waiting patiently at the hotel. We have been communicating with the law enforcement agencies over there on whether we can hold practice if the situation allows,” cricket operations chairman Jalal Yunus told The Daily Star yesterday.
The hampering of practice schedules and practice matches due to the ongoing unrest has been a cause for frustration for the Bangladesh players, as it has disrupted the build up to their two-match Test series in Pakistan next month, which is part of the ICC World Test Championship cycle.
Two white-ball practice games on July 19 and 20, between Bangladesh Tigers and the High Performance unit were cancelled earlier due to the ongoing unrest.
Many of the Bangladesh national team stars including skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto, who was set to join the Bangladesh camp in Chattogram to play the three-day games, could not travel to he port city to join the rest of the players in the programme.
“Our journey date [to Chattogram] has been postponed. If everything is sorted, we will possibly fly to Chattogram,” Shanto told The Daily Star yesterday.
“The practice matches might get rescheduled. Honestly speaking, the preparation for the Pakistan series has been hampered quite a bit,” he added.
Shanto had been training individually in Dhaka but for him and many of the Test players, the three-day practice games were crucial especially in light of national team’s previous Test series against Sri Lanka, where questions were raised about their preparation after they got routed 2-0 at home.
While the BCB are still waiting for a green signal from law enforcement agencies to hold the remainder of the camp in Chattogram, another BCB official said they were hopeful of beginning practice from Wednesday.
“If they [law enforcement agencies] give us the green signal, and if we can move, the players will go to the practice, whether there is a curfew or not,” he said.
Our journey date has been postponed. When everything is sorted, we will possibly fly to Chattogram. The practice matches might get rescheduled. Honestly speaking, the preparation for Pakistan series has been hampered quite a bit.
Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto on how current situation impacted the Tigers’ preparation for upcoming Pakistan tour.