Stacked fixtures await cricketers

Following the T20 World Cup, it seems Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is waiting for their coaches and players to finish the ongoing break in order to start preparation for their next international assignment -- a two-match Test series against Pakistan, scheduled to be held in August.

Although Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is yet to confirm the itinerary of the series, which is also part of the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 cycle, Bangladesh are expected to tour Pakistan for the first time since 2020.

According to chief selector Gazi Ashraf Hossain Lipu, they are planning for some practice matches during their camp for the Pakistan series in order to prepare themselves for red-ball cricket -- a format which they last played in March-April against Sri Lanka.

"The players are on a break now and after that, the schedule of the camp will be announced formally. There are some suggestions from our head coach. There are plans to play some warm-up matches," Ashraf told The Daily Star yesterday.

The BCB is currently running two camps -- High Performance (HP) unit in Rajshahi and Bangladesh Tigers in Chattogram -- simultaneously. Nearly 50 cricketers are preparing for two scheduled High Performance and A team tours in Australia and Pakistan, respectively.

According to camp officials, national players like Shadman Islam and Shahadat Hossain Dipu, who are part of the Bangladesh Tigers camp, are set to feature in both Australia and Pakistan tours before the Test series.

The first contingent of HP unit, which will play two four-day matches against Pakistan Shaheens between July 19 and 29, is expected to leave Dhaka for Australia on July 14. HP unit will also play a 50-over tri-series and a T20 series, featuring a different set of players.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh A will leave for Pakistan, with a few players from the HP unit joining the team from Australia, to play two four-day matches and three one-day matches on August 6.

"The A team will leave for Pakistan on August 6. During the tour of the A team, our national team will arrive in Pakistan. We are actually operating all three programmes at the same time," said national selector Hannan Sarkar, who also mentioned that the HP squad will be announced in two-three days.