Tigers played their last Test against Zimbabwe in February 2020 at home. They were scheduled to play four more Tests last year but all matches were postponed indefinitely due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is hosting a home series against West Indies maintaining a strict ‘bio-secure bubble’ to avoid being exposed to Covid-19.

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A bio-secure bubble refers to an environment cut off from the outside world in which the movement of everyone involved in the tournament (players, staff and match officials) is restricted to a small number of places.

Bangladesh and West Indies have played a three-match ODI series which was won by the hosts. Now they are set to take on each other in the Test series.

“It feels really good to back to play cricket after a long gap. Everything might not be easy for us but at the same time, we’ve been in the practice camp for a few months which will surely help us to do well,” Taijul said in a video statement released by the BCB.

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“We’ve had some quality practice sessions during and after the ODI series. I hope there’ll be no problem to play in the longer format now. I don’t think a long gap is a problem,” he added. 

All Bangladeshi cricketers worked hard

All cricketing activities were halted for about five months. But the BCB arranged an individual training programme for the interested players in July. Cricketing activities have slowly resumed since then.

Later last year, BCB hosted two domestic events — BCB President’s Cup, a 50-over competition, and Bangabandhu T20 Cup.

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“We had a good chance to train after the initial period of lockdown. I’m not finding any difference between playing before the lockdown and after it. Everyone worked hard when they got a long gap from competitive cricket. I also worked on some aspects of my game,” Taijul said.

Before the Test series, West Indies will take part in a three-day practice game from January 29 at MA Aziz Stadium in Chattogram. They will take on BCB XI under the captaincy of Nurul Hasan Sohan.

After the first Test, both teams will fly to Dhaka to play the second and final match of the series from February 11 at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur.

(Story Writer: SHT, Story Editor: ZK)