The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is trying to convince the government to relax the quarantine rules for Shakib Al Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman, the board's CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury said Saturday. Shakib and Mustafiz returned home from India on Thursday, and are under a 14-day institutional quarantine in Dhaka. Both players were playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL), which was suspended as some cricketers had tested positive for Covid-19. Although the government's Covid protocol requires all the inbound passengers to go through a mandatory 14-day quarantine period, the general protocol is not supposed to apply to athletes, Nizamuddin said. Also read: Shakib, Mustafizur return to Dhaka "We are not expecting any special arrangement or privilege for Shakib and Mustafiz. The Covid protocol followed by our country is for general people. But it is different for the international players. "The general protocol is for people who come to the country by passenger flight after receiving a Covid negative certificate, but Shakib and Mustafiz returned home in a chartered flight and maintained a tight protocol," the BCB CEO added. He also said the board was working closely with the health authority to minimise the quarantine period of these two cricketers. The BCB earlier urged the health authority to reduce the period of quarantine for them, but the Directorate General of Health Services declined the request. Also read: 14-day quarantine must for Shakib, Mustafizur The Tigers are scheduled to play a three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka starting May 23. If the authority stays firm to not reduce the quarantine period of Shakib and Mustafiz, the players will have to stay in institutional quarantine till May 19. This means they will get only four days to practice ahead of the series. The Tigers recently played a two-match Test series against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka and lost it 1-0. Bangladesh's last ODI series was in New Zealand where they lost the series 3-0 to the hosts.

A special mobile court in Sylhet has sentenced two UK returnees to a week in jail for violating quarantine rules. The court has also imposed a fine of Tk 10,000 on each of the violators -- Abdun Nur, a 42-year-old resident of Goyashpur in Sunamganj's Chhatak, and Alam Hasan Rauf, 36, of Chanpur in Biswanath upazila. Police said Wednesday the duo returned to Bangladesh from the UK on March 22, along with 140 other passengers. As per the government's Covid rules, they checked into Gates Hotel Star Pacific Hotel in the city for a seven-day mandatory quarantine for foreign returnees. Also read: UK returnees to Bangladesh must stay in quarantine: Minister During the quarantine period, the samples of both the UK returnees were collected but they managed to flee from the hotel before getting their Covid-19 report. Being informed, a mobile court led by Executive Magistrate Mohammad Mezbah Uddin tried them and sentenced them to seven days in jail for violating the quarantine rules. Also read: 9 UK-returnees escape from quarantine in Sylhet, return after 12 hours On March 22, nine UK returnees of a family disappeared from a Sylhet hotel, which has been converted into an institutional quarantine centre. However, the nine people returned within 12 hours, the management of Britannia Hotel told UNB. Also read: New Covid-19 strain found in 10 EU returnees: Maleque Five adults in the group were fined Tk 18,000 each by a magistrate for violating the quarantine rules.  

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan on Wednesday urged overseas returnee to follow the quarantine rules for the sake of the country, warning that stern action will be taken if anyone breaches those.