Seven players and two officials tested positive for Covid-19 as the teams prepare for the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League Twenty20 competition, set to start Monday.
Involving players and officials of different clubs, 269 underwent the test, of which nine tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
Those who tested positive are all asymptomatic.
The situation however, will not affect the schedule of the tournament and those who tested positive will undergo a second test.
Covid-19 test of the cricketers and officials of the upcoming Dhaka League started Wednesday.
“They will have a second test (Friday). A few have tested positive in the first test, but all are asymptomatic. We will know the real picture after the second test,” said a Bangladesh Cricket Board source to the media on the issue.
On the other hand, BCB and Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis following a meeting with team captains and officials came to the decision to impose severe punishment if players or officials are found breaching the bio-secured bubble, which will be in place ahead of the tournament.
The 12 clubs will be staying at four different top hotels in Dhaka in a bio-bubble.
“The arrangement for the bio-bubble is similar to that we have in an international series. The 12 clubs will stay at four different hotels and the support staff [of the hotels] will also be made part of the bubble,” said BCB physician, Dr Monzur Hussain Chowdhury, to the media.
This Dhaka League edition is the unfinished version from last year.
CCDM chairman Kazi Inam Ahmed through a statement earlier this month had said the T20 format has been considered due to the busy international schedule, and also to give the players some T20 game time with the World T20I scheduled for later this year.
The DPL got suspended in March last year with Covid-19 cases hitting the country for the first time.
The season saw only the first round of matches before BCB came to the decision to suspend all forms of cricket under its jurisdiction in the country.
Since then, the board and CCDM made many plans to bring the tournament back on the field but were denied by the Covid-19 pandemic.
