Mehidy Hasan awaits his visa as Bangladesh team departs for West Indies tour

Bangladesh are preparing for the tour of West Indies but ahead of that, they have to solve a visa matter for one of their key players. Allrounder Mehidy Hasan is yet to receive his visa from the American embassy. He will thus miss a two-day practice game that will be played on June 27-28. A Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) official confirmed the same today.

The team is scheduled to set sails for the Caribbean islands from the national capital, Dhaka tonight. They will play a series in each of the three formats. It starts off with two Test matches and will be followed by a three-match One-Day International series and three Twenty20 Internationals. The team’s acting manager Rabid Imam said that Mehidy hasn’t obtained the visa yet and will take the next available flight and join the team there.

Awaiting clearance from the American embassy

“He is yet to obtain the passport from the embassy,” Imam told Cricbuzz. “He is expected to take the next available flight as soon as he gets the passport from the embassy.

“As the embassy’s next working day is only on Sunday, it is unlikely that he will be available for the practice game that we will take part in,” he added.

The team will join skipper Shakib Al Hasan who is already in Florida celebrating Eid. They will spend a few days in the US before flying off to West Indies.

New head coach in place

As a part of their preparation for the tour, Bangladesh hosted a three-day training with the new head coach Steve Rhodes at the helm.

Talking about the new coach Mominul Haque said: “It is too early to say anything regarding him and I am sure we will know him better as time flies. But as far as creating a bondage between players and coach is concerned it is developing quite well.”

The two-match Test series will get underway on July 4 at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.

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