Paine suggests Bangladesh tour might be postponed

The coronavirus epidemic has seen the world of sports being hit severely and the situation with cricket is no different. Almost all cricketing activities are suspended and there are growing concerns over how the long-term competitions like the World Test Championship (WTC) will be completed.

Bangladesh have already seen the third leg of their Pakistan tour postponed indefinitely. Australia were set to travel to Bangladesh for a couple of Test matches in June but that series also hangs on the thread now. Neither Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) nor Cricket Australia (CA) have yet to take a decision on whether the series will go on. But it is almost certain if the situation does not improve, the series might accept the same fate as the recent games all over the world have. 

Australia's Test captain Tim Paine also doubts the feasibility of the upcoming series. 

"You do not have to be Einstein to realise that the Bangladesh tour is probably unlikely to go ahead, particularly in June. Whether it is cancelled or pushed back, we're not quite sure at the moment," the 35-year old said. 

Australia are currently second on the WTC points table with 296 points whereas Bangladesh are loitering at the bottom, yet to add a point to their tally. 

The WTC is set to finish its first edition in June 2021 and Paine believed that there will be enough time to rearrange the matches. 

"Some series have been cancelled and whether ones going forward are going to be continually cancelled or we are going to postpone them is uncertain. Maybe the players are going to have to go through a period where we play quite a bit of cricket if we want to complete the Test Championship as it is," the Australian skipper said. 

But Paine also added that if the situation did not improve, there were bigger things to consider than a few Tests. 

"I think all players would be in favour of trying to finish that any way we can but if it does not happen, there are bigger issues in the world and missing a few Test matches is not going to hurt us," he added. 

Bangladesh are yet to compete in a WTC match at home as all of their three matches have been away at India and Pakistan. The Tigers had lost all of them by an innings defeat and had no points in their bag. A win against Australia might have been the required boost of confidence they needed to lift them from the bottom. 

The last time Australia travelled to Bangladesh was in 2017 when the series was drawn 1-1. Courtesy of a 10-wicket haul from Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh managed to beat the Aussies by 20 runs to secure their first-ever Test win against the visitors.