Dhaka (December 31, 2012): Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) Chief Nazmul Hassan has said Bangladesh will only tour Pakistan if the security situation in the country improves.
“Bangladesh will not visit Pakistan for now,” BCB chief Nazmul Hasan told reporters Dhaka.
Addressing a press conference in Dhaka, he remained noncommittal, not saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to the proposed tour, but it was made clear in various ways that the January visit has, for now, been ruled out.
“The ICC minutes has it that we have made an unconditional commitment to tour Pakistan. But there is concern among us about the country’s security situation, it has deteriorated in fact. We don’t think it will be wise to visit Pakistan at this time,” Nazmul said.
“We have sent them [the PCB] a letter three days ago, telling them of our stance. We will again contact them when their security situation improves. And we will go in the future, because we are committed to go there.”
“We know the consequences, they may not want to send their players to the Bangladesh Premier League and our Dhaka leagues. They will probably not want to help us or support us.
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Pakistan Cricket Board’s chairman Zaka Ashraf had said that the BCB would lose its reputation worldwide if it decides against sending its team to Pakistan.
He further added that they had supported the BCB in every aspect, especially with respect to Mustafa Kamal’s appointment as the ICC’s vice president, and that he did not expect the BCB to pull out of the tour at the last moment.
Ashraf also pointed out towards the Bangladeshi Premier League issue stating that the Pakistani players were still not cleared to play the league.
Talking about the security issues, Ashraf said that there were no security issues within Pakistan and that the BCB’s officials had visited Pakistan earlier and had found the security issues satisfactory.
