DHAKA, —Bangladesh national cricketer Mohammad Mithun and pace bowling coach Ottis Gibson have been tested negative for the COVID-19, much to the relief of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB).

The board were worried after opener Saif Hassan and trainer Nick Lee were tested positive for the deadly virus ahead of the Sri Lanka tour. Both of them are currently in isolation although they have no visible symptoms.

However apart from those two, no one became positive as the BCB collected the sample of 18 cricketers and 15 support staff to test in the last three days. The cricketers and support staff would be tested three times more before heading to Sri Lanka.

The BCB however will announce the national team and High Performance (HP) very soon after which a short conditioning camp for the national team will be set up at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.

The number of the players of the national team this time might be 22, according to the chief selector Minhajul Abedin Nannu. Since the main practice camp will be held in Sri Lanka, the board wants more players in the squad and therefore the squad will be larger.

Bangladesh is highly likely to leave the country for Sri Lanka on September 27. After reaching Sri Lanka, they will start their main training programme and will play some practice matches against HP team, who will also stay in Sri Lanka due to their series against Lankan HP team.

The itinerary of the three-match Test series between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka is yet to be released but according to the BCB, the first Test is on October 24. The first two Tests will be hosted by Kandy while the third and final Test will be held in Colombo.