Training week ends with players wanting more

Although yesterday was supposed to be the last day of the Bangladesh Cricket Board's individual training schedule as part of their attempt to resume cricket, Mushfiqur Rahim characteristically expressed his wish to practise for two more days at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.

The BCB had allowed players to use their facilities and grounds across the country and also prepared a roster through which each cricketer trained individually under the safety measure provided by the board from July 19 to 26.

It was a major step for the BCB towards resumption of cricket amid discussion about the logistics of resumption after all sport came to a halt in mid-March in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. However, the coronavirus situation in Bangladesh is still alarming and the board is in a dilemma over resuming full-fledged activities or even starting a tournament. Organising individual training sessions was easier than arranging matches or even group practice.

"Mushfiqur will practise for two more days. So far, we have not faced any trouble arranging practice sessions as far as heath measures are concerned. We dealt with a small number of players, so the job was pretty easy. But the challenge will be [greater] when we will have a larger number of people. Training and tournaments are two different things to manage," said BCB's chief physician Debashish Chowdhury. 

"In training we are having one-on-one sessions, which is the easiest way. But when we involve teams, the scenario will be totally different. It will involve lodging, food, transport and other logistics. The exposure increases as the number of people involved increases and it becomes difficult to ensure the measurements."

Fast bowler Taskin Ahmed, who was among the few cricketers who had resumed training at Mirpur, is looking forward to continuing training if the BCB allows the use  of facilities after Eid.

"I had my last practice session before Eid today [Sunday] at the BCB facilities. If the arrangement is in place, I would like to attend sessions after Eid too. It was a totally different experience and you are not as enthusiastic as when you do it with the team. I was having my own sessions at home and when BCB arranged this, I thought to avail it. We are still dealing with the pandemic. I hope we recover from this soon and get back to the ground playing cricket," said Taskin.

Like Taskin, there are domestic cricketers who are also eager to resume training after Eid and have expressed their desire to the BCB. The board is still waiting for government's guidelines about the next step towards resumption as a lot will depend on the improvement of the coronavirus situation.

"The work is still in progress when it comes to our plans after Eid and obviously, we have our plans. The game development committee had already chalked out plans with the High-Performance team. As far as the national team is concerned, much will depend on the confirmation of the upcoming Sri Lanka series," BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury said. 

"There are domestic cricketers who expressed their desire to avail the training facilities after Eid. The board is willing to provide facilities to as many cricketers as possible, but we also have to follow safety measures and maximise the venues so that safety and social distancing can be followed accordingly."

Meanwhile, the long gap of over three months away has taken a toll on the fitness of cricketers and BCB's trainer Iftikharul Islam urged those cricketers who are still at home to focus more on fitness work on the ground.

"Look, you need to have the touch and feel of the ground no matter how much you work on fitness at home. Those who have undergone the training lacks the game fitness, which is obvious as they were out of touch for over three months. It will take some time but there is nothing to worry about. But it won't be easy for those who are still at home and those who started early will surely be ahead of others in terms of fitness," said Iftikharul.

Look, it's the call of the individual and if you ask me, honestly I was a bit confused and worried initially while resuming training. As you know, most of Mirpur is under the red zone. But once I started training, gradually I gained the confidence after witnessing such a neat, clean and organised environment. The others who have also done individual training will agree. Hopefully, if not the whole team, at least four-five of us can practise together in the near future. 

MUSHFIQUR RAHIM