Australia cricket team have set their foot in Dhaka on Thursday at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 4:10 pm.
Australia travelled to Bangladesh following the white-ball tour of West Indies. The players will have to be quarantined for three days.
Unlike in the past, Bangladesh’s ‘home of cricket’ is not crowded but there’s still a festive mood around as the goundstaff are busy giving the final touches to their preparation ahead of hosting Australia for the upcoming, five-game T20I series.
Bangladesh government announced a countrywide lockdown from July 23 till August 5 due to a spike in Covid-19 cases, but BCB is leaving no stone unturned to make sure all the requirements are in place to satisfy Cricket Australia as their men’s national cricket team is travelling to Dhaka for the first time since 2017.
CA had already postponed a tour to Bangladesh earlier in 2020 and only agreed to do so this time round as all their demands were being met by the BCB regarding the bio-bubble security. CA demanded that no other person would be allowed to enter the space where the players will stay in the team hotel while they also don't want the immigration hassle and come to the team hotel straight from the airport tarmac. They also requested for all matches to be held at one venue.
BCB fulfilled all their wishes and decided to host all the matches at the Sher-e Bangla National Stadium while the Aussies will reach the team hotel without going through the immigration passage as their passports will be provided to the immigration officer after arriving and it will be sent to CA officials later.
BCB officials have also ensured that the East Wing of the team hotel has been brought entirely under the bio-secure bubble while another bubble has been created next to the BCB office for the groundstaff.
As of July 21, around 140 people are in quarantine. Among them, 85 are staying in the Hotel Intercontinental while around 40 groundsmen are also in quarantine and no one can be added to this group after the said date. The Aussies last visited Bangladesh in 2017 for a two-match Test series in which the Tigers recorded their historic, first-ever win in the longest format against Australia and leveled the series 1-1. The two teams have met four times in the shortest format, with all four matches taking place as part of the ICC tournament.
