Coronavirus: Mujib Borsho cricket matches, concert postponed

The T20I series between World XI and Asia XI on the occasion of the birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman has been postponed as a precautionary step to prevent the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).

The two-match series was scheduled to be held in Dhaka on March 21 and 22, UNB reports.

President of Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) Nazmul Hasan Papon informed the media about the development on Wednesday evening at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.

“We’re facing some problems to host these two matches. So, we’ve decided to postpone them. We’ll inform you about updates later,” he told the media.

At the same time, a grand concert scheduled for March 18 in Dhaka has also been postponed indefinitely.

“We had two options regarding the concert. We would have hosted it in smaller scale or postpone it. We chose the second option. We’ll take a further decision after a month,” Nazmul added.

Before taking the decision, BCB has discussed the matter with the high officials of the government, he said.

Due to coronavirus, BCB might cancel their third and final phase of Pakistan tour for an ODI and one Test in Karachi. Nazmul said: “We’re thinking about it (to cancel Pakistan tour). We need to sit again for further discussions.”

BCB also restricted selling of tickets for the ongoing T20I series between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.