Sri Lanka To Host Bangladesh For Two Tests In Pallekele From April 21

Sri Lanka will host the Bangladesh team for a series of two Test matches, which all be played in Pallekele from April 21. This series was originally scheduled to be played in October 2020 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Sri Lankan health authorities had insisted that the touring team needed to spend 14 days in quarantine, to which neither the Bangladesh Cricket Board nor the Bangladesh players agreed. Since then the government has relaxed its norms a lot to enable the Sri Lankan board to have this series.

The Two Tests Series To Start From April 21

The Sri Lankan government has now mandated that the quarantine rules have been relaxed for the international cricket teams as long as they enter a bio-bubble before their departure. Bangladesh is likely to arrive on April 14 and is due to play an intra-squad warm-up in Katunayake on April 17 and 18. The series is almost certain to be played behind closed doors.

Both the matches will be played at the Pallekele International Stadium, Sri Lanka Cricket announced on Friday. Bangladesh will now arrive in Sri Lanka on April 12 and play the two Tests on April 21 to 25 and April 29 to May 3.

“As we know the COVID-19 situation in Sri Lanka improved from the past. In the meantime, England toured Sri Lanka and we were informed that we have to maintain the same protocol that was in place for the series against England,” Bangladesh Cricket Board chief Nizamuddin had earlier said in February while confirming the tour.

This will be the third major men’s cricket event Sri Lanka will host after the England Tests and the Sri Lanka Premier League. On both those occasions, players were allowed to undergo only a brief quarantine, before they began training with their teammates several days after arrival.

Bangladesh will not be having the services of star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who will be busy in playing the IPL, for which he received a NOC from the BCB. The fate of Mustafizur Rahman, who was picked by Rajasthan Royals at the 2021 IPL auction, remains unclear.

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