Challenges surrounding Tigers’ return

International cricket is set to return to Bangladesh after a 10-month halt due to the coronavirus pandemic as the Bangladesh Cricket Board will host West Indies for a three-match ODI and two-match Test series starting from January.

The Tigers last played an international series back in March this year against Zimbabwe and a big challenge looms for the BCB to make sure that they put their best foot forward both in terms of the cricket on the field and the organisation off it.

Tigers' injury update

As far as cricket on the field, there are some injury headaches in the Test squad. Bangladesh Test skipper Mominul Haque had undergone a surgery on his right thumb in the UAE on December 10 after the left-handed batsman sustained an injury while fielding during the Bangabandhu T20 Cup.

Another vital player in the longest format, off-spinner Nayeem Hasan, also underwent surgery on his right little finger, which he injured while fielding during the Bangabandhu T20 Cup.

However BCB's chief physician Dr Debashish Chowdhury is confident that both cricketers will be able to regain their fitness ahead of the two-match Test series against West Indies.

"In the last two weeks, two of our cricketers underwent surgeries and one of them is our Test captain Mominul Haque. He had his surgery in Dubai and is now doing his rehabilitation under our health guidelines. Then we have Nayeem Hasan who injured his little finger and his surgery has been done at a hospital in Dhaka. His rehabilitation will also start within the next few days.

"Our aim is to get them back to proper fitness before the practice game, which is scheduled for January 25 ahead of the Test series. We are very hopeful that both cricketers will be able to regain proper fitness before the warm-up match," Debashish told the media yesterday.

Another member of the Test squad, pacer Abu Jayed, is also recovering from a Grade 1 thigh strain sustained during the Bangabandhu T20 Cup is also expected to return to the field by the first week of January, said Debashish.

Lessons from domestic tournament

Another main challenge will be creating and maintaining an effective health protocol and a bio-secure bubble for the touring side as well as hosts. However, the board will be encouraged by the fact that they arranged two local tournaments -- BCB President's Cup and the just concluded Bangabandhu T20 Cup -- while maintaining a bio-secure bubble. According to Debashish they will implement the experiences of those two tournaments in the upcoming home series.

Debashish also said that Cricket West Indies had already given the green signal over the MoU provided by the BCB for the upcoming series.