A delegation of the Bangladesh Cricket Board will visit Khulna on August 11 to see the facilities available ahead of a planned Test against Zimbabwe in November.
The original plan was that two matches of the three-Test series will be played in Chittagong and one in Dhaka, but the BCB has changed its heart and planned to hold one Test match in Khulna, which has previously hosted a Test against West Indie.
However, the hotel facilities in Khulna failed to meet the requirements of the BCB and the International Cricket Council, prompting the cricket oversight body to avoid the city for any international match since the West Indies series.
Local officials in Khulna this time promised to provide adequate logistic support to convince the BCB to award the city at least on Test match.
BCB’s media committee chairman Jalal Yunus admitted that a team will visit Khulna to inspect the venue and hotel facilities.
Sheikh Sohel, who represents Khulna division at the BCB as its director, said that he was successful in convincing the BCB president for awarding Khulna at least one Test match.
‘I hope there will be no accommodation problem in Khulna for the players and officials of the cricket team,’ said Sohel. ‘One problem is the dilapidated condition of the Khuna-Jessore highway. We will contact the communications minister soon to renovate the highway on a priority basis.’
The venue manager at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in Khulna, Abdus Sattar Kochi, said the ground and the wicket of the venue are good enough to host a Test match.
Md Alamgir Hossain, the managing director of Hotel City Inn, where the West Indies cricket team stayed, said they can now accommodate both the Bangladesh and Zimbabwe teams as well as the match officials.
-With New Age input
