SLC earlier proposed hosting the HP squad for two four-dayers and five 50-over matches when they would host Bangladesh for a three-match Test series in July. © Getty

The Bangladesh Cricket Board is looking to prepare its squad ahead of the three-match Test series in Sri Lanka by organizing a practice match with the BCB's High-Performance unit in the island nation ahead of the series. Although nothing has been confirmed as yet, three T20Is are likely to be included if insiders are to be believed.

Citing lack of preparation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, BCB and Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) announced earlier that they have decided to postpone Bangladesh's tour of Sri Lanka to a mutually-planned later date. Bangladesh were scheduled to play three Tests in July that would be part of the ICC Test Championship, but 'a conducive environment', as per the BCB, had still not been achieved.

However, now, they are thinking of restarting cricket with this rescheduled tour and a decision in this regard is expected to come soon as the cases in Sri Lanka are under control.

"Talks between BCB and SLC are going on about the new schedule and hopefully everything will be finalized soon. Earlier, we were only scheduled to play a three-Test series. We're also trying to add some [shorter-version] matches and we have included that point in the new discussion which started after the suspension of ICC T20 World Cup," BCB cricket operation chairman Akram Khan told Cricbuzzon Saturday (August 1).

According to BCB officials, there is a chance that they wouldn't have to stay in quarantine for 14 days, which would allow the Bangladeshi cricketers to use the cricketing facilities. But that won't allow them to play practice games against local sides as the SLC won't allow their cricketers to come in contact with the tourists before the 14-day period.

Hence, BCB is expected to send their HP team over to help the players in the Test squad make the most of the quarantine period by playing practice games among themselves. The HP unit was once supposed to travel to Sri Lanka in September 2018 for a series but that eventually got shelved as the SLC was not ready to bear the expenses of the series.

SLC earlier proposed that when they host Bangladesh for a three-match Test series in July, they will also host the HP squad for two four-dayers and five 50-over matches during the same period, but that didn't go to plan, owing to the pandemic.

"The tour can take place either in September-October or October-December and we are working on it as a lot of things have to be taken into consideration before finalizing the tour. The duration of quarantine might be reduced. We will take the Covid-19 test before leaving and after arriving there we will give another test. We are hoping to get the result within six hours and if everyone is tested negative, we would see whether we can start our activities immediately," Akram added.

"Our cricketers won't be allowed to come close to their cricketers for 14 days but we can use their facilities. If our HP squad is there at the same point of time we can play matches amongst us and we are thinking on these lines."