Dhaka: Bangladesh's upcoming Test series against New Zealand in August-September has been postponed to a later day, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) said on Tuesday.
"In the present COVID-19 pandemic scenario, hosting a full cricket series in August 2020 will be a challenge in terms of preparations and we cannot take chances with the safety and health of players, support staff and related stakeholders," said BCB chief executive officer Nizamuddin Chowdhury in a press release as quoted by a leading news daily.
"Under these circumstances, BCB and NZC have felt that the best way forward would be to defer the series. We realise that this will be hugely disappointing for the players and officials of both teams, not to mention the fans of the two nations but I must thank NZC for its understanding and for recognising the rationale behind such a decision," he added.
Bangladesh and New Zealand were supposed to play a two-match Test series that is part of ICC World Test Championship.
BCB and NZC will now work on identifying a suitable time to reschedule the series, the report on the same news daily said.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board, who have insisted on ensuring adequate safety for its players as well as sufficient practice times, will not be rushed into green-lighting top-flight cricket just yet with former captain Mashrafe Mortaza recently testing positive to COVID-19. With the Sri Lanka tour under a cloud, under the conditions, Bangladesh's next assignment could very well be the Asia Cup or the T20 World Cup, two tournaments whose futures too remain uncertain
Till Tuesday, Bangladesh recorded 115,786 Covid-19 cases and 1,502 deaths.
Earlier, former Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza and Nafees Iqbal were diagnosed with COVID-19.
