Bangladesh has been the hardest hit cricket team because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, with as many as eight of its World Test Championship fixtures already suspended due to the deadly outbreak. 

The team was due to play Pakistan in Karachi, take on Australia and New Zealand in a rare four-Test home summer and then travel to Sri Lanka for three more games. 

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All those fixtures were jeopardized by the Coronavirus outbreak, which has forced the world into a rare standstill amid a major health crisis. 

There seems to be no way for Bangladesh to have those fixtures played at later dates within the ongoing Test championship cycle, due to end with the final in June 2021. 

"Unless the current ICC Test Championship cycle is extended there is no way we can play those eight Test matches in the stipulated time frame of the first cycle," Bangladesh Cricket Board's (BCB) cricket operations chairman Akram Khan told Cricbuzz.

"We are looking forward to seeing what ICC does with the Test Championship because unless it is reshuffled there is hardly any possibility to play the eight Test matches that got cancelled," he added. 

There is a growing consensus that the ICC should look to extend the ongoing cycle for the sake of the number of matches affected by the pandemic. 

"If the Test Championship final match happens on schedule that is in next June then the fate of these matches (eight Tests) is very slim because it means there is no possibility of these Test matches because we have no space left to play these matches by next June," BCB chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury said. 

"But if the Test Championship final date gets extended, then maybe there will be a chance but even after the extension, even if there is an opportunity, it will have an impact on other schedules as well because we have a compact schedule until 2023," he added. 

(Inputs from Cricbuzz)