Bangladesh tour unlikely due to coronavirus, says Aussie skipper

Australia Test skipper Tim Paine on Tuesday confirmed that the side's tour of Bangladesh in June this year is unlikely to go ahead due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The skipper said that one does not need to be 'Einstein' to figure out what will happen to Australia's tour to Bangladesh.

Australia was slated to play two Test matches against Bangladesh and the series was to be a part of the World Test Championship (WTC).

The first Test was to be played from June 11-15 in Chattogram, while the second would have been played at Dhaka from June 19-23.

"You don't have to be Einstein to realise (the Bangladesh tour) is probably unlikely to go ahead, particularly in June. Whether it's cancelled or pushed back, we're not quite sure at the moment," cricket.com.au quoted Paine as saying.

"I hope they don't push it back too far for my sake, that's for sure. Some series have been cancelled and whether ones going forward are going to be continually cancelled or we're 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," he added.

In June 2021, the final of the World Test Championship will be played and the apex cricket body has time to schedule the cancelled or postponed series by then.

Currently, India is on the top of the WTC standings, while Australia is at the second spot.

"Our team has got some goals, one of those is the ICC Test Championship final and winning that. I haven't looked any further than that. All players are really enjoying the points system and the fact each Test match counts to something and you're playing towards a premiership if you like," Paine said.

Currently, Australia has 296 points in the WTC from 10 matches, while India has 360 points from nine matches.

Both India and Australia are also slated to play a four-match Test series later this year.