BCB wants Shakib, Mustafizur back as soon as possible

With the Indian Premier League getting suspended due to the escalating Covid-19 crisis in India, Bangladesh Cricket Board wants to bring Shakib al Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman back to Bangladesh as soon as possible.

The IPL was postponed Tuesday amid the worsening Covid-19 situation in the country, and the BCB immediately contacted the two cricketers regarding their immediate return to Bangladesh.

Bangladeshi citizens who visited India in the last two weeks are allowed to travel to Dhaka but they must have special approval from the competent authority of Bangladesh.

And once allowed to set foot in Bangladesh, they must undergo mandatory 14-day quarantine.

In this regard, cricket's governing body in the country is doing all it can to ensure Shakib and Mustafizur's safe and imminent return to Bangladesh, informed BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury to the media.

One of the possibilities being mooted is that Kolkata Knight Riders' Shakib and Rajasthan Royals' Mustafizur will board a chartered flight organized by India's cricket board, the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

Meanwhile, hosts Bangladesh will take on visiting Sri Lanka in the first of three ODIs on May 23.

The Bangladesh cricketers have already started the preliminary camp in Mirpur, while those who were part of the Test match squad in Sri Lanka arrived in Dhaka Tuesday and will undergo home quarantine before joining the camp.

Regarding Shakib and Mustafizur's participation in the Sri Lanka ODIs, Nizamuddin said, "Since the IPL's bio-secured bubble has come into question (after two Covid-19 positive cases in the Kolkata camp and three in Chennai Super Kings), and corona has entered that bubble, we can't let players from there join the team and put the other cricketers in risk. Whatever the government decides about Shakib and Mustafizur, we will do so accordingly. We have a lot of time in our hands before the series."