Australia set foot in Dhaka Thursday, Bangladesh to return home from Zimbabwe

Bangladesh cricket team are scheduled to reach Dhaka Thursday morning following a successful month-long tour of Zimbabwe.

On the same day in the evening, visitors Australia will set foot in the capital for the five-match T20I series, scheduled to take place between August 3 to 9.

Bangladesh Cricket Board CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury while speaking to the media Wednesday informed that both the teams are already in bio-secured bubble as part of the Covid-19 health safety protocol, and will directly go to the team hotel from the airport in Dhaka.

“They [Cricket Australia] has requested us for a quick completion of formalities at the airport. They have also requested for minimum officials [local] around them when they arrive. We are arranging that in the best way possible,” said Nizamuddin.

BCB is confident of hosting Australia without a hassle.

The confidence is driven from having arranged two international series at home, against the West Indies in January and Sri Lanka in May, and also two domestic tournaments amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

“You see we have already arranged two international series [against the West Indies and Sri Lanka] amid the Covid-19 pandemic. So we have that experience and know the areas that we strictly need to look at and follow and be cautious of to complete the series [against Australia] successfully,” said the BCB high-up.

“But still if there is any situation of a positive [Covid-19] case [inside the teams], the two boards [BCB and CA] will discuss and find a solution to complete the series,” Nizamuddin added.

Australia are travelling to Bangladesh on the back of a Covid-19 scare in their tour of the West Indies. 

Last week the second ODI between the West Indies and Australia in Barbados was suspended because of a positive test for Covid-19 inside the bio-bubble.

The series resumed after all 152 people involved in the series returned negative Covid-19 tests.

Australia played their last game of the tour of the Caribbean, the third ODI, Monday.

Australia in the tour lost the five-T20I series 4-1, but won the three-ODI series 2-1 against the hosts. 

Meanwhile, Bangladesh bagged a hat-trick of trophies in Zimbabwe winning the lone Test, a three-ODI series 3-0 and the T20I series by 2-1.

The five T20Is between Bangladesh and Australia will be played behind closed doors at Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on August 3, 4, 6, 7 and 9 respectively.