The Bangladesh Cricket Board has started an investigation on a biosecure bubble breach during a practice session of the ongoing Dhaka Premier League. This is the first such report incident since the tournament started on May 31, with match venues and four team hotels coming under the board's biosecure bubble.
The incident reportedly took place on Friday, during Mohammedan Sporting Club's training session, when captain Shakib Al Hasan was having a batting session at the indoor facilities of the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka. The BCB is investigating the entry of an outsider although the identity of the person remains unknown.
"We are disappointed to note this incident," Kazi Inam Ahmed, the chairman of Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis (CCDM), said. "Both the CCDM and the BCB have taken this very seriously. The health and safety of our teams, players, and officials are most important to us. We have invested a significant amount of finances and efforts to make sure the BSE (bio-security environment) protocols are in place including the best possible accommodation and logistics. This incident is being looked into and necessary actions and further precautionary measures will be taken."
The tournament's disciplinary committee is supposed to investigate the incident. The BCB said before the tournament that any breach could mean a fine, suspension, and even point deductions for the club.
The DPL is taking place during the latest phase of lockdown, which began on April 5. Bangladesh is experiencing a second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic with 43 deaths and another 1447 positives cases in the last 24 hours.
The BCB though remain hopeful that the tournament can finish this time, after it was postponed in March 2020. For that, the board has pulled out all the stops, including shortening the tournament to T20 format and paying for the biosecure bubble of all 12 teams and match officials, who are put up in four five-star hotels in Dhaka. The cost of the bubble is in excess of Taka 7 crore (USD 825,230 approx). Bangladesh's first-class competition, the National Cricket League, also remains postponed since April this year.