BCB rejects Mushfiqur Rahim and other senior players’ request to train at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), for the time being, won’t be allowing any of the players to train at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, or for that matter any other venue. Mushfiqur Rahim communicated with the board for practising in the stadium at Mirpur, but had his request rejected. The BCB reckons that it’s not the right time owing to the global coronavirus pandemic.

Thus far, Bangladesh has had 55,000 positive COVID-19 cases with 746 people losing their lives. The BCB understands the gravity of the situation and making the environment a safe one for playing cricket. Hence, the body also turned down requests from a few other cricketers.

“Mushfiq communicated with us, he wanted to begin personal training. But we told him that this is not yet a safe time to do so, he should train at home,” Nizamuddin Chowdhury, the BCB chief executive, was quoted as saying to Cricbuzz.

We need to consider the overall situation: BCB chief

“Training is important, but players’ safety is more important to us. A few other players wanted to know if they could do individual training. But our message was the same for all. We are working on disinfecting our facilities. But the job is yet to be completed,” he mentioned.

It’s been nearly four months since the ungodly virus started wreaking havoc. Cricket boards around the world are starting to contemplate practice camps. Though Bangladesh also aim to do so, but no details were provided on when it will start.

“We need to consider the overall situation. We can’t rush into anything. Many countries are starting their activities; we will definitely do the same. However, we can’t give an exact date right now,” Chowdhury stated.

Moreover, the BCB was of the opinion that they would be following the guidelines set by the International Cricket Council (ICC). “It is right that some other countries have started their training activities following the ICC guidelines and we will do the same,” he added.

As far as Mushfiqur is concerned, he has been training at home, running on his treadmill and keeping himself fit. He has also been posting some pictures of his training sessions on Instagram. Recently, Tigers’ ODI skipper Tamim Iqbal lauded Mushfiqur for being the hardest-working among his teammates. The left-hander also drew his parallels with Indian skipper Virat Kohli.