'Some of our star players don't even want to play T20Is in Pakistan' - BCB President Nazmul Hasan

International Cricket returned to Pakistan after a hiatus of ten long years with the Sri Lankan team recently touring the terror-ravaged nation for a series of limited-overs Internationals in September followed by a historic two-match Test series in December.

The two Test matches were played in Rawalpindi and Karachi and following positive feedback from the opposition captain in Dimuth Karunaratne and other senior Sri Lankan cricketers like Angelo Matthews, the Pakistan Cricket Board was confident that Bangladesh Cricket Board [BCB] would send its team to Pakistan for three T20Is and two Test matches, scheduled to be played in January, next year.

However, it isn’t proving to be all hunky-dory for the Pakistan Cricket Board as the BCB has requested their counterpart to split the Test and the Twenty20 International series, just as they did against Sri Lanka. And, now the president of the Bangladesh Cricket Board Nazmul Hasan has said that while they are trying to form a T20I team for the Pakistan tour, several senior players have shown reluctance to even participate in the shortest format of the game. Hasan said that the same has already been communicated to the PCB and while they are awaiting clearance from the government, the board will not force any of the players to tour Pakistan against their will

“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,” BCB President Nazmul Hasan said as quoted by cricketpakistan.com.pk.

Coaching staff unwilling to travel to Pakistan: Nazmul Hasan

The PCB has been firm on their stance of playing all of their home games on Pakistan soil but Nazmul explained that the rationale behind the apprehension is because the families of most of the support staff- who happen to be foreigners- are pretty nervous for the upcoming tour of Pakistan.

“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,” he said.

“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,” he added.

Bangladesh are supposed to tour Pakistan for three T20Is and a couple of Test matches in January and it will be interesting to see how the PCB reacts to Nazmul’s statement.

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