Shadman Islam of Bangladesh tests positive for Covid-19

Bangladesh’s young opener Shadman Islam has tested positive for Covid-19 and is consequentially missing the first round of the National Cricket League, the premium First-Class tournament of Bangladesh. 

''I am in isolation at the moment in the hotel and waiting for my third corona report to arrive and if that is negative I will be able to play,'' Shadman was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz. 

For all the players in the national teams’ scheme of things, competing in the NCL was made mandatory by the BCB. It was done to prepare them for the two-match series against Sri Lanka, scheduled from April 21.

Bangladesh Test captain Mominul Haque also faced the Covid-19 scare after he tested positive in the initial test, but the subsequent test gave a negative report of him, clearing him to take part in the NCL.  

This Test series, a part of the World Test Championship was originally slated for July 2020 but was postponed to October 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Once again in October, it was rescheduled as the 14-day quarantine rule of the Sri Lankan government couldn’t be accepted by the BCB. 

Both the matches of this series will be played at the Pallekele International Stadium.

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Virat Kohli confirms Rohit-Dhawan opening partnership; backs KL Rahul amid 'nonsense' outside talks

Although India dropped Shikhar Dhawan was dropped from the T20 team after the first game of the series against England, skipper Virat Kohli has confirmed that the left-hander will continue to open the innings with Rohit Sharma. Kohli reaffirmed the team management’s trust in the pair of Rohit and Dhawan and said that there are no questions whatsoever on their performance in the 50-overs format. Kohli also welcomed the prospect of young players getting their opportunities for the first time in this format and said that the team has its eyes set on looking at those players on how they execute their skills against a full-strength England side. "As far as the opening combination is concerned, yeah, Shikhar and Rohit will definitely start; when it comes to one-day cricket I don't think there's any issues or doubts over Rohit or Shikhar opening together. They have been amazing for us for the past few years,” Kohli said in the virtual press conference on the eve of the series opener in Pune. “Yeah, so we'll start with that and other factors… it will be interesting because there are a few younger players who are getting an opportunity in the one-day set-up for the first time, so I am really keen to see how they go about executing their skills against a very, very strong England side.” Another loggerhead for the team management will be the issue of KL Rahul’s form with the bat. The right-hander who has had cemented a spot for himself in the middle order on the basis of his hard-hitting abilities and wicketkeeping has gone terribly out of form in the recent past. His recent scores in the T20 series against England read 1,0,0, 14 before he was sacked from the team in the series decider on Saturday. Kohli must have contemplated over Rahul’s place in the XI having an in-form Rishabh Pant back in the ODI team. However, the skipper hinted that the team will continue to back Rahul amid ‘nonsense’ talks from the outside which he believes Rahul should block away. Kohli vehemently opposed the idea of dropping players when they go out of form as he said that a string of low scores does not define the qualities of a player and that they don’t forget how to play their game when out of form. He suggested Rahul to keep all the noise from outside away from him and react to the next ball bowled to him instead of responding to outside calls on his form. "When an individual is going through a tough phase - it's not like he forgets how to play, it's just that mental clarity isn't as good at the time - at that time if you know what things are being said and you're being told you're out of form, then you're bringing in another external factor into your system. It's a simple game: you have to watch the ball and react and hit the ball. You have to be in the moment and all this outside talk, to be very honest, is complete nonsense,” Kohli added. India and England will play this upcoming three-match ODI series as their last international campaigns before the players will move towards the action of the Indian Premier League next month.

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Boiled by Shakib’s allegations of misrepresentation, BCB to reconsider his IPL NOC

Ace Bangladesh all-rounder, Shakib Al Hasan seems to be in trouble after his no holds barred interview in which he alleged the Bangladesh Cricket Board for misrepresenting his letter. The BCB is now thinking to reconsider the No Objection Certificate (NOC) given to him to play the Indian Premier League (IPL). Responding to Shakib’s allegation that he might not have read his letter properly, Akram Khan, the BCB Cricket Operations head, said, "What does it imply? If someone is saying that I don't want to tour Sri Lanka, where we have two Tests, to prepare for the World Cup, then what does it actually mean?" He further went on to say that the board would reconsider the 33-year-old’s NOC if he wants to play Tests and tour Sri Lanka for the upcoming series. "I heard that he said that I didn't read his letter. Perhaps I misunderstood his letter. He wants to play Tests, from what he has said. In the next couple of days, we will discuss his NOC. If he has an interest, he will play Tests in Sri Lanka," Akram was quoted as saying to cricbuzz. Earlier on Saturday, 20th March, Shakib in an interview to a cricket website had alleged Wasim Khan in particular of spreading rumours that the top-rated ODI all-rounder, who is also at number five in Test rankings, doesn’t want to play the longer format. "I did not mention anywhere in my letter that I do not want to play Tests. I mentioned in my letter that I want to play in the IPL to prepare myself properly for World Cup (T20 World Cup) but despite that Akram Bhai has repeatedly said that I do not want to play Tests," Shakib had said. The BCB is planning to convene a meeting soon to discuss the Shakib matter.