Coronavirus Effect: Bangladesh U-16 Tour To India Postponed

The novel coronavirus has brought the sporting world to a standstill. A lot of events across the globe have been postponed with Bangladesh U-16 team’s tour to India being the latest inclusion.

Bangladesh Cricket Board postponed its U-16 team’s tour

As a precautionary measure, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) decided to postpone its U-16 team’s tour to India. Bangladesh under-16 team was scheduled to play two three-day matches and three one-day matches against India in the series but after the outbreak of the coronavirus, BCB decided to defer it.

“We decided to call it off considering these unforeseen circumstances,” BCB director Mohahmmed Jalal Yunus was quoted as saying by PTI.

“We don’t want to risk our players. There is anyway no or limited flight connectivity at this time. Logistically also it would not have been possible.”

The deadly disease has so far claimed over 8,000 lives globally. In India, the virus has infected 147 people and killed three.

In India, BCCI has suspended the IPL 2020 till April 15 and called off an ongoing three-ODI series against South Africa, besides putting all domestic matches on hold till further notice.

Coronavirus and its origin

Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV), according to report in World Health Organisation (WHO).

COVID-19 is a new strain that was discovered in 2019 and has not been previously identified in humans.

Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people.  Detailed investigations found that SARS-CoV was transmitted from civet cats to humans and MERS-CoV from dromedary camels to humans. Several known coronaviruses are circulating in animals that have not yet infected humans.