South Africa's cricket team apologises to Bangladesh military for using drone during practice
As the Proteas get ready to face the heat in Bangladesh, their practice session in Dhaka was halted when they had to take down the drone they were using to take creative shots of the training.
The hosts – Bangladesh – have a very strict policy concerning the usage of unmanned aerial vehicles in its airspace. The civil aviation authority bans the usage of the aforementioned vehicles without prior permission. This rule is in place to ensure national as well as general safety in the Asian country.
The ground staff took a note of the flying drone being controlled by the officials of South African team, and raised protests against it. A Bangladeshi official who declined to provide his name was quoted saying,
"South Africa team has been told that the drone camera cannot be used because of certain restrictions. We are really happy that they've taken it in true spirit"
As directed by the authorities, the South African team took down the drone almost immediately.
"We were unaware of the strict security protocols with regards to the Bangladesh airspace and have subsequently stopped using the device. The TV crew brought the drone over to try to obtain creative views and images to use for our YouTube channel.We do apologise to the Bangladesh military and security forces for any inconvenience this may have caused" The team manager Mohammed Moosajee said in an email to AFP.
The fans would be hoping that this is the first and last hassle the visitors have to face. Bangladesh are on a high at the moment and the Proteas can’t afford to take the tigers lightly. Everyone is looking forward to some exciting cricket ahead.
Bangladesh are scheduled to play two Twenty20, three one-day international and two Test matches starting from July 5.