The Afghanistan cricket team, now in Bangladesh for a three-match ODI and two-match T20 series, has been hit hard by Covid-19, a Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) physician has confirmed to the media.
The Afghan team arrived in Bangladesh early this week.
They are conducting a camp in Sylhet under the observation of the Afghanistan Cricket Board.
“Sseveral members of Afghanistan team have tested positive for Covid-19,” Monjur Chowdhury, a BCB physician told the media.
“But we cannot disclose any further details about the matter. The tour will officially start on February 19. We can only say further after that.”
The ODIs of this series will take place in Chattogram on February 23, 25 and 28 before the T20 series taking place in Dhaka on March 3 and 5.
Afghanistan’s last Bangladesh tour was in 2019 when they beat the hosts in Chattogram in their first Test.
Overall, Bangladesh and Afghanistan took on each other in 15 matches with Afghaitnain winning eight, and Bangladesh winning seven.
It’s going to be Afghanistan’s first tour to Bangladesh after the Taliban took over the country last August. Taliban banned many sports in Afghanistan, but they allowed cricket.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh have announced the ODI squad for this series on Monday, which includes four uncapped players.
Afghanistan ODI squad : Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt), Rahmat Shah (vice-capt), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Najibullah Zadran, Shahid Kamal, Ikram Alikhil (wk), Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Azmat Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Yamin Ahmadzai, Farid Ahmad Malik
Travelling reserves: Qais Ahmad, Salim Safi
Afghanistan T20I squad: Mohammad Nabi (capt), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Hazratullah Zazai, Usman Ghani, Darwish Rasooli, Najibullah Zadran, Afsar Zazai, Karim Janat, Azmat Omarzai, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Qais Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Nijat Masood, Farid Ahmad Malik
Source: United News of Bangladesh