The quarentine rules for the touring Pakistan team have been relaxed for their upcoming series against hosts Bangladesh however, a mandatory COVID-19 test will be in place.
Recently, the Bangladesh government had prepared a list of countries to define their position in Covid-19 as per which both Pakistan and UAE are in the green zone following which the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) decided not to have any room quarantine for the series, which will begin on November 19.
Earlier, a three-day room quarantine was mandatory in all the series since February- March 2020 after which various teams like West Indies, Sri Lanka, Australia and New Zealand had served the mandatory rules.
“After arriving in Dhaka, they (Pakistan) will undergo Covid-19 test in their rooms and they can start their practice immediately after passing the test,” BCB Chief Physician Debashish Chowdhury was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.
“There will be no quarantine for the Bangladesh team as well but all the cricketers need to have both the doses of Covid-19 vaccine,” he added.
Chowdhury further said: “They will also undergo Covid-19 test after entering the team hotel and can start practicing after testing negative. The rules are the same for everyone even if any member is included from outside the squad, he will have to follow the same process considering it will take just 12 hours to get test result (corona test).”
He also said that there would be more relaxed bio-bubble rules in place for the upcoming series.
Few days back, BCB chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury had reportedly said that the board is hoping to allow fans back in the stadium, up to 50 percent of the venue’s capacity, during the upcoming home series against Pakistan.
Notably, fans have been barred from the stadium in any international game in Bangladesh due to the Covid-19 situation. However, Chowdhury said that the BCB is thinking to allow atleast 50 percent crowd but the last decision will be taken by the government.
“We are hopeful to have fifty percent fans in the ground subject to the government approval. The fans need to be vaccinated. As children are yet to be vaccinated, they are unlikely to be allowed to see the matches from the gallery in the Pakistan series,” Chowdhury was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz..
The Babar Azam-led Pakistan is scheduled to play two Tests and three T20 matches in Bangladesh during the tour, which will begin on November 19 in Dhaka.
While the T20I matches will be played on November 19, 20, and 22 at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka, the opening Test will be held from November 26 at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram and the second and final Test will be held from December 4 in Dhaka.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan cricket team is likely to travel to Bangladesh directly from the UAE after the ongoing T20 World Cup final at the Dubai Sports City Stadium on November 14.
Earlier, the Bangladesh cricket team had toured Pakistan in January 2020 for a three-match T20I series. Hosts Pakistan had won the series 2-0 with a game being abandoned due to rain.
Bangladesh is next slated to face South Africa at home in March next year. The two sides will play three ODIs and two Tests.