BCB's chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury, on Tuesday (December 24), said that they have proposed to PCB the men's national side is ready to play three Twenty20 Internationals in Pakistan, as that would help their players and coaching staff to assess the conditions after staying there for a brief period of time, report Cricbuzz.
Despite the tough stance adopted by the PCB on Bangladesh's unwillingness to play Test cricket in Pakistan, the BCB has reiterated that as things stood, it could only give the go-ahead to a T20I series in the country. In what could be seen as a slight softening of its position on the Tests, though, chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury said that Bangladesh would decide on the longer series after the T20I tour.
Speaking to a few reporters in Dhaka on Tuesday, Chowdhury said that while the BCB understood the sentiments of the PCB, it needed to take into account the views of the Bangladeshi players and the team management.
"Pakistan will definitely try for the full return of international cricket to their country. We have to take into account the views of our players and members of our team management, who are foreigners," Chowdhury said. "The match environment is also important to us. Relevant stakeholders' view is also important, regarding a longer tour to Pakistan.
"Our primary proposal is to play three T20Is in a shorter period so that players and team management can do a proper assessment of the situation there."
Recently, Sri Lanka became the first team to play Test cricket in Pakistan since 2009. That tour was always going to be in two parts, with the Tests first and then the white-ball matches. But the PCB swapped the formats around, with many major Sri Lanka players expressing their apprehension about touring, and the limited-overs matches were played first, in October. Once that tour was conducted without incident, Sri Lanka agreed to tour in December for a two-Test series with their first-choice players.
As such, since the T20Is are scheduled for January 23, 25 and 27, the PCB has a very small window to host the Bangladesh Tests, with the PSL scheduled to begin in the third week of February.
"Naturally, Pakistan would like to see that international cricket resumes there in a full-fledged manner, and probably that is the reason they have said all those things," said Nizamuddin.
"You all know there is something called match environment. At the same time, there are players and team management staff, and (members of) our team management staff are from abroad.
"And we have to discuss with them regarding staying there for a long period of time before taking a decision. And so we proposed to play three T20Is because if we play there for a shorter period of time, then everyone can do a proper assessment that includes players and team management, so we have given them the proposal thinking in this line," he added.
While the foreign coaches are reluctant to visit Pakistan, the board feels that they can convince them, if all the T20I matches are played at one venue. "We have proposed one venue considering the movement and duration as we prefer to play in one venue." It has also been learnt that BCB will take the independent opinion of the ICC, as they are expected to provide it to the match officials. However, it is unlikely going to have an impact as far as changing their stance regarding the Pakistan tour is concerned.
On Monday, at the end of Pakistan's Test series against Sri Lanka, Ehsan Mani, the PCB chairman, had adopted a particularly defiant tone, saying there was "absolutely no doubt" Pakistan would play all home series within the country going forward.
PCB chairman earlier announced that they are not ready to play the two-match Test series against Bangladesh at a neutral venue. Incidentally, BCB have been in touch with the PCB for a split series with the Tests to be played at a neutral venue and T20Is in Pakistan. Pakistan coach Misbah ul Haq and skipper Azhar Ali also made their displeasure clear following Bangladesh's reluctance to tour Pakistan for a full series. Bangladesh are scheduled to visit the country in January- February to play Tests and T20Is.
