Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) President Nazmul Hassan hinted that even the T20Is may be in doubt. Hassan spoke to reporters and informed that Bangladesh will only be able to play the T20 series in Pakistan but even that will depend on whether the board can form a good team for the tour given that many of the players and coaching staff are unwilling to travel to Pakistan.
"After talking to the players and coaching staff, what I understood is that there is no opportunity [to tour Pakistan for a Test series]," Nazmul told the reporters at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Thursday. "We have already let them [PCB] know what we want. We told them that we want to play T20 only, I mean, we are trying to send our T20 team. If they agree, we can try to get the government's clearance. It's not the issue of the board because it's a security issue, so the government will have the final say.
"Apart from the government's clearance, there is also the issue that whether the coaching staff and players will agree for the tour. We need to form a good T20 team. If we can form a good T20 team, we'll send the team. We are supposed to get the government clearance within one or two days after which we'll give the final decision."
"There is no doubt about their security system," he said. "The feedback that we got [from the security agency] that the security system is good. Our Women's team and aged level team toured there and they also gave us a positive feedback about the security. "But our coaching staff is reluctant to go. Someone said they may go for just short visit. As I said earlier, the players said that their parents, relatives and friends are concerned and requested them not to go. Secondly, the over cautious security plan that will be in place will create a suffocating environment. So how long you can stay in a suffocating environment?
That's why we told them that we may go now for T20 series and we will come back within a week. Then we can think about whether we should go there for the longer format. If they agree for the T20 series, only then will we try to get the green signal from government." “The biggest thing is that there is no room for doubt over the security system being provided by Pakistan. I went there myself and the women’s team was there as well and also the U-16 team. The feedback we received from them was that the security system is good,” Hassan said.
“Many of the coaching staff has already informed us that they don’t want to go. Some of them have said that they do want to go but only for a short period; only a handful though wanted that as most of the foreign staff do not want to go. “From what I understood from talking to the players, some of them do not want to go. Others were willing to go only for a short period of time. I wanted to know why and understand their mindset.
“One of the factors in their decision was their families. Many in their families are very anxious about the Pakistan series. The second factor is how long they can prevail in such a security environment. It is fully secure and very much a closed-off environment. This is what the majority of the players are saying. They do not want to stay that long under such a security environment. Those who have wanted to go, said that they want to go and play the T20s and return inside one week,” BCB president informed.
“We have already communicated [to the PCB] that we are trying to send a team for the T20s if the players are willing. “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 said. “I don’t know the whole detail of the procedure which will follow since this kind of situation doesn’t arise often. I hope that they [PCB] will understand our situation and try to arrange the Tests at a neutral venue. “We want cricket to return to Pakistan but our boys are going there for the first time after such a long gap so they should also consider our side. I think the matches can be rescheduled and if that doesn’t happen the issue will go to arbitration,” he concluded.
