Bangladesh asks Pakistan to host Test series in neutral venue

Bangladesh cricket team’s upcoming Pakistan tour is still hanging in the balance as the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has asked the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to host the two-match Test series in a neutral venue for security concerns.

BCB Chief Executive Officer Nizam Uddin Chowdhury told the media that the PCB is yet to come up with a reply to this end.

BCB, however, agreed to play a three-match T20I series in Pakistan on conditions that all the games will be hosted in a single venue.

 “We’re in regular contact with the PCB. We’ve already told it that we aren’t willing to stay in Pakistan for a long time. So, we agreed to play only three T20Is in Pakistan,” Nizam Uddin told the media on Saturday.

 “We told the PCB to host the Test series in a neutral venue. Some may say that if we can play the T20I series in Pakistan, then why not the Tests. I think the security consultants know the differences between playing limited over cricket and longer version cricket amid security concerns,” he added.

If the Bangladesh team finally go to Pakistan, the movement of players will be limited to certain areas, which is playing a big role before reaching a decision about this tour.

Bangladesh national women’s team and an age-level team toured Pakistan this year.

Before those tours, a security team visited Pakistan and submitted positive reports to the government. Based on that reports, the government agreed to send the teams to Pakistan.

 “Security is the main priority for us. You might have already known that a government delegation has toured Pakistan, and we received a report from them. We’re also in regular contact with the Bangladesh High Commission in Pakistan. At the same time, we’ll take the opinions of the ICC regarding the security concerns about this tour,” Nizam Uddin further said.

Meanwhile, Test cricket has finally returned to Pakistan recently with the tour of Sri Lanka. Back in 2009, Test cricket exiled from Pakistan for a decade. However, despite Sri Lanka agreed to play in Pakistan, most of the Test-playing countries are reluctant to go to Pakistan to play Test cricket.

The Pakistan government and PCB together are trying to bring the Test cricket back to the country with the participation of all the countries. To make this effort impetuous, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is scheduled to tour Pakistan in February 2020 under the captaincy of former Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara.