Habibul disappointed as WI sending a ‘second-grade’ team
Former Bangladesh captain and current selector Habibul Bashar expressed his disappointment as the Cricket West Indies (CWI) is set to send a second-grade team to Bangladesh for a two-match Test and three-match ODI series, reports UNB.
The West Indies are scheduled to arrive in Dhaka on 10 January. They will have to maintain strict three-day in-room quarantine before starting the intra-squad practice session for the next four days. The touring side will get help from the hosts after completing a seven-day quarantine period.
Before confirming the tour, a two-member delegation travelled Bangladesh to observe the health protocol that Bangladesh would provide them during the series, and they expressed their satisfaction.
Then they have submitted their report to the CWI, the board decided to go ahead as it was planned. But they left the decision of touring Bangladesh to the cricketers, and as a result, 12 of their regular members decided to skip the tour amid coronavirus pandemic.
"The COVID-19 situation of Bangladesh is under control. We have proved that we are on the right way. We have organised three events during this pandemic and provided a good health protocol to the cricketers. The bio-secure environment what we have created was proved to be a successful one. So I believe the situation in Bangladesh is safe to play cricket," Habibul Bashar told the media on Wednesday.
"This is disappointing that some of their players have opted to stay out of this series reasoning COVID-19 situation. We are not to comment on the team that they have decided to send to Bangladesh. But it's disappointing if the players opted to skip this series due to Bangladesh's COVID-19 situation which is better than many countries," he added.
Before the upcoming series, West Indies have toured England and New Zealand. During their England tour in July, the COVID-19 situation of England was frightening.
Both the teams will lock horns in three ODIs and two Tests in this series. The first two ODIs will take place in Dhaka while the third one will be played in Chattogram along with the first Test, and the second and final Test will be played in Dhaka.