‘We can fully start preparing for first Test’

Bangladesh cricketers are now free to start preparations in full force for the two-match Test series against New Zealand, scheduled to start from January 1, as the results of the Covid-19 tests that the Tigers underwent yesterday returned negative today. 

Bangladesh national team director Khaled Mahmud informed that Bangladesh will be allowed to train as a group for the first time since landing on December 10. 

"We had our last Covid-19 test here yesterday and the result came in today and all of us are tested negative. Hence, we will be able to go out from here [bio-bubble] and attend training sessions from tomorrow [Tuesday]," Mahmud told the media over a video message in the morning today.

"We have a training session at Lincoln University ground on 10:15 am where we will also avail gym facilities. 

"Afterwards, we will go to the hotel and roam around freely. We can fully start preparing ourselves for the first Test," a relieved Mahmud added. 

Previously, the phase of turbulence began for the Tigers after Bangladesh's spin-bowling coach Rangana Herath tested positive for Covid-19 in Christchurch after joining the team from Sri Lanka. It then came to light that New Zealand's first case of the Omicron variant was found on the same flight from Dubai to New Zealand that some of the Bangladesh team boarded, forcing the New Zealand Health Ministry to take strict measures.

In line with guidelines from the New Zealand Health Ministry, the visitors were asked to stay at the Managed Isolation Center for three further days of strict room quarantine, and thus, postponing the original schedule of moving to a team hotel to start outdoor practice from December 17.