Bangladesh’s T20I camp for the tour of India is doubtful after the players announced a strike on Monday. The selectors picked the squad last week and the camp is scheduled to start from October 25.
“The T20I players are supposed to start training from October 25. Most of them were playing in the National Cricket League in Dhaka. There was a four-day break in between when the situation changed. We hope it will be solved soon,” a source close to Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) told Sportstar .
The players raised an 11-point demand — related to better pay, improved facilities and changes in domestic tournaments — to resume cricketing activities, putting the tour of India in jeopardy.
The entire itinerary, including the selection of the Test squad for the tour, may get delayed if the issues are not addressed immediately.
Read: Bangladesh cricketers go on strike, India tour under threat
“Our Test players will be free by November 1 and the squad announcement was round the corner. Going by the current situation, it doesn’t look like it will be announced before November first week,” he added.
If the BCB fails to solve the issues, the third round of the National Cricket League — starting October 24 — will not start either.
BCB chief Nazmul Hassan, however, is confident that the tour will go on as per schedule. “I hope that the camp will go on. The India series will take place. I believe that most of the players want to play. They want cricket to develop. I don’t believe that they will bring the country’s cricket into disrepute due to a small sum of five thousand taka.
“What I want to see and know first is who goes to play and who doesn’t. Whether they will go to the camp or not. First, I have to know who is trying to jeopardize the India tour. I have to know what the real problem is,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
On the other hand, the Federation of International Cricketers’ Association has backed the Bangladesh cricketers for their unity.
The tour of India is set to start with three T20Is from November 3.
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