Bangladesh's tour to Sri Lanka in July postponed amid prevailing COVID-19 situation

New Delhi: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday (June 24) announced the postponement of the Bangladesh tour to Sri Lanka slated for July due to the prevailing COVID-19 situation.

ICC tweeted, "Bangladesh's tour to Sri Lanka, scheduled to take place next month, has been postponed."

Bangladesh's tour to Sri Lanka, scheduled to take place next month, has been postponed. pic.twitter.com/rHc1TVE1A8 — ICC (@ICC) June 24, 2020

Bangladesh and Sri Lanka would have played three Tests after the COVID-19 halted cricketing action across the globe.

Earlier on June 23, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announced that together with the New Zealand Cricket (NZC), they have decided to postpone the two-match Test series which was part of the ICC World Test Championship. The series was due to be played in August and September.

BCB Chief Executive Nizam Uddin Chowdhury said the postponement was a precaution as they did not wish to risk the health of any players, staff or any other personnel involved in the games.

"In the present COVID-19 pandemic scenario, hosting a full cricket series in August 2020 will be a challenge in terms of preparations and we cannot take chances with the safety and health of players, support staff and related stakeholders," ICC quoted Chowdhury.

Notably, former Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza recently announced that he had contracted COVID-19.

The International cricket will see its first post-COVID-19 match when the West Indies Test team will begin their tour against the English side from July 8.