Mominul Haque rested for next NCL round after recent issues with Covid-19

He has since tested negative but Bangladesh want him in top condition for Sri Lanka tour; Shadman, Ebadat also rested for similar reasons

Mominul Haque, the Bangladesh Test captain, is among nine players who will be unavailable for the National Cricket League’s (NCL) second round starting on Monday. Haque tested positive for Covid-19 earlier this month, though he had since tested negative before the first round of the NCL and subsequently played for his team Chittagong Division in the match that started on March 22. Haque had also tested Covid-19 positive last November and shown “mild symptoms” then.

Shadman Islam and Ebadat Hossain, both Test hopefuls who also tested positive recently, are also out of action in the upcoming round. Shadman didn’t turn out for his side, Dhaka Metropolis, in the first round, but Ebadat played for Sylhet Division before being replaced by Rejaur Rahman Raja on the third day after testing positive during the game.

All three players will be considered for the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka in mid-April, which is why they are being kept away from domestic cricket and rested for now.

Six other players’ reports have returned “invalid” test results, according to the BCB, and as such their participation in the second round of the NCL has been put on hold.

The first-class NCL is the first major domestic competition in Bangladesh this season. It will be followed by the List A Dhaka Premier League, which begins in May.

Meanwhile, the South African women’s emerging side arrived in Dhaka on Sunday. After a three-day quarantine period, they will play five one-day matches against the Bangladesh emerging side in Sylhet from April 4 to 13.

The Pakistan Under-19 team is also scheduled to arrive in Bangladesh on April 12, to play a four-day match and a five-match Youth ODI series against the Bangladesh Under-19s, in Sylhet and Dhaka. They will depart on May 6.

Bangladesh have already hosted West Indies senior men’s team earlier this year, for a three-match ODI and a two-match Test series in January-February. Their men’s team is currently in New Zealand on their first international tour since the start of the pandemic.