Bangladesh ready to play only three T20Is in Pakistan, confirms BCB
Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hasan has said that they are ready to play only three Twenty20 internationals against Pakistan in their upcoming tour. Hasan clarified that the Bangladeshi government was reluctant to provide security clearance due to the unrest in the Middle-East.
In the end, after the four-hour long board meeting at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, chaired by Nazmul, the BCB has finally cleared their stance on their upcoming tour of Pakistan. The president further added that they had already conveyed the decision verbally to their Pakistan counterparts and will soon be sending an official letter in this regard.
"Considering the recent unrest that is prevailing in the Middle East we can only have a short trip to Pakistan and so we decided to play only three T20 matches during our first visit to Pakistan," Nazmul said at the BCB premises, reported Cricbuzz.
Recently, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had proposed BCB to play the two-match Test series first and return later to take part in the three-match T20I series at a convenient time, ahead of the upcoming T20 World Cup in October. This came after the BCB had proposed a split series — half in Pakistan, and half elsewhere — to which the PCB were unwilling.
"We will play the Test series against Pakistan at some other point of time when everything gets ok in the middle-east region. It was a difficult decision to tour Pakistan considering everything but still we decided to go there now only to prove that we want resumption of international cricket in Pakistan," Nazmul said.
However, the fact that the Test series between the two nations is also part of the ICC Test Championship adds another factor to the complication of the situation.
"I am not too sure where we stand if we don't take part against any particular side in the ongoing ICC Test Championship. But I am going to Dubai tomorrow to talk with ICC president Shashank Manohar as he invited me to meet him,” Nazmul added.