Shakib Al Hasan, Mustafizur Rahman join Bangladesh team bubble after quarantine

Shakib Al Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman have started training with the Bangladesh squad after transferring from hotel quarantine to the team's bio-bubble for the Sri Lanka series, according to the BCB. Both players left quarantine on Monday night, 11 days after they arrived in Dhaka following the IPL's deferment.

Initially they were supposed to be in quarantine for 14 days, in accordance with the directive by the country's health authorities for travellers from India, which is currently suffering a massive second wave of Covid-19 infections.

The BCB's chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury said that there was no "special considerations" being made for the two, given that they will remain in a bio-bubble all through the Sri Lanka series, which begins on May 23. Training for the series began today.

"The directive that they must practise while staying in a bio-bubble environment still stands. They are practicing while within the bio-bubble. This is not a special consideration. They have shifted from their hotel quarantine to the team's bio-bubble," Chowdhury said, adding that the pair had tested negative three times before joining the bubble.

The IPL sent the two players to Dhaka on a chartered flight, since air travel between the two countries has been suspended since April 14. A hard lockdown was enforced in Bangladesh since that day, following a spike in Covid-19 cases from mid-March. With India also experiencing a severe second wave, the border between the two countries was also shut from late April. Land borders were reopened earlier this month, with those crossing over into Bangladesh needing to undergo institutional quarantine for 14 days.