Bangladesh's Sri Lanka tour in July 2019 unlikely to go ahead after Easter bombings

The world was shocked after the suicide bombers wreaked havoc in Sri Lanka on the Easter Sunday on April 21. It was a terrorist attack which killed more than 250 people. Churches and the five-star hotels were targetted in a ghastly attack and it has started to affect the cricket in the country as well. Bangladesh were scheduled to tour Sri Lanka in July later this year and that tour is unlikely to go ahead now.

With the second wave of attack expected in Sri Lanka, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has clearly denied travelling to the island nation. The tour was earlier scheduled to be played in December but was brought forward to July. Moreover, the fact that the Bangladesh cricketers narrowly escaped the mosque shooting in New Zealand earlier this year, has made the board even more cautious.

There’s no question of going

BCB President Nazmul Hassan cleared on Saturday that the tour is highly unlikely to go ahead citing the current situation in Sri Lanka. He also went on to say none of the international teams will travel the country right now. “There is only one problem about Sri Lanka: the kind of situation is there, there’s no question of going there. Not only Bangladesh, I don’t think any team will play there.

“If the situation calms down, they assure us and our security team gives clearance, we will see. At the moment we don’t have any plan to go there,” he was quoted as saying by the Times of India.

As of now, both the teams are preparing themselves for the upcoming World Cup which is to be played in England from May 30. While Bangladesh will start their campaign against South Africa on June 2 at the Oval. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, will face New Zealand at the Sophia Gardens in Cardiff.

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