DHAKA: Bangladesh on Monday called off the forthcoming Test series in Sri Lanka because of coronavirus restrictions imposed by the hosts they say make preparing impossible.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) took the decision after Sri Lanka refused to ease stringent quarantine measures — which included players being confined to their rooms for 14 days, with no training allowed, after arriving in the island nation.

“It is impossible to play international matches under their tough coronavirus isolation policy. We will tour Sri Lanka at a later date when there will be no restrictions,” BCB spokesman Jalal Yunus said. “We respect their coronavirus policy but, honestly speaking, international matches cannot be held in these circumstances.”

The three Tests in October-November were meant to mark the return to international cricket by both nations after a months-long lockdown.

The series was originally planned for July-August but was rescheduled due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The series will now be pushed further back because of Sri Lanka’s mandatory quarantine period which would have affected Bangladesh’s preparations.

Published in Dawn, September 29th, 2020