Bangladesh seeks players’ approval for Pakistan tour

DHAKA (Monitoring Desk): The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has started seeking approval of their players regarding their scheduled tour to Pakistan.

According to a report by ESPNCricinfo, the BCB as a standard practice before any tour, have decided to consult their players before arriving at a final decision.

The report further added that a Bangladesh Test cricketer has already agreed to tour Pakistan. Bangladesh are due to arrive in Pakistan in January for three Twnety20Internationals (T20Is) and two Tests and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was hopeful the full tour would go ahead given that Sri Lanka had visited to the country for the Test series.

However, the BCB had been adamant on splitting the Test and T20I series between the two countries. Last month, the BCB President Nazmul Hasan said that several of their star players have showed reluctance to tour Pakistan even to play the shortest format.

“We have already communicated [to the PCB] that we are trying to send a team for the T20s if the players are willing,” Nazmul was quoted as saying by The Daily Star. “If the players and the staff are willing and we can manage to form a good team, then we will send our team. Some of our star players have said that they don’t even want to play the T20s.”

“We are awaiting government clearances. We have already gotten approval from one section and awaiting other instructions. We need clearance from the security agencies. One thing is certain, we won’t force any player to go,” he added.

This new development has ignited hopes of the series taking place at the scheduled time. However, the fate of the tour is expected to be decided after a BCB board meeting in the coming week.