Bangladesh Cricket Board’s (BCB) decision to tour Pakistan for three consecutive times in three months has astonished the Tigers’ fans in home and abroad.
Questions over the sudden decision are being raised in different social medias asking why BCB, which was adamant not to tour the country at all only few days ago, suddenly made a U-turn, agreeing not only one but to three consecutive visits in the restive country of Pakistan.
Since the start of December last year, talks between BCB and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) started regarding Tigers’ scheduled tour in Pakistan, according to ICC’s Future Tour Program (FTP). BCB was reluctant from the very beginning to play series in Pak soil, and instead proposed to play against Pakistan on a neutral ground. However, PCB was adamant about Tigers visit to Pakistan.
At first, PCB’s proposed BCB to play two-match Test series but the latter denied that proposition and wanted to play only T20 series. Both boards were at stand-off and then ICC’s chairperson Shashank Manohar tried to mediate on this matter. In mid-January, a meeting took place in Dubai between ICC chairperson, BCB president Nazmul Hasan Papon and PCB president Ehsan Mani.
After that meeting, BCB took a complete U-turn and agreed with PCB on a highly questionable tour. ‘Questionable’, cause the tour fixtures where fixed in such a way that Bangladesh team have to visit Pakistan not once but thrice!
Recently, Tigers toured Pakistan to play a three-match T20 series. Bangladesh team have again went to Pakistan on Wednesday, to confront Pakistan today (Friday) in the first of two-match Test series in Rawalpindi.
But, surprisingly, the second Test of this series is scheduled on April 5 with a wide gap of nearly two months. The team Bangladesh will have to visit Pakistan for the third time three months to play the last match. Before that match, Bangladesh will play a solitary ODI match on April 2.
So, the tour is scheduled in a very haphazard way.
It is being widely asked how BCB president agreed to visit a country three times where no other international cricket team agrees to visit once because of security concerns.
On top of that, senior cricketer like Mushfiqur Rahim and other foreign members of the coaching staff will not be with the team during the whole of Pak tour because of security concerns.
BCB president Papon might give reasoning by saying ICC pressurised them. But will ICC be able to pressurise India, Australia or England to visit Pakistan? Our board should have been sterner regarding this matter and should not have agreed to tour Pakistan with this shambolic fixture schedule.