BCB, PCB agree on 3-phase Pak tour
The uncertainty regarding Bangladesh’s upcoming tour of Pakistan finally ended when the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announced that the Tigers’ tour of Pakistan will be split into three phases. However, the BCB mentioned that the second and the third phase of the tour will depend on security clearance for that period with BCB media release stating that the Bangladesh team is ‘expected to return’ for the reminder of the full tour.
The BCB announced that it had come to an agreeable resolution with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) regarding the matter following a meeting between the two board high-ups, with ICC Chairman Shashank Manohar as the mediator at the sidelines of a meeting of the ICC in Dubai yesterday.
Bangladesh will be playing three T20Is in the first phase from January 24 to January 27 in Lahore. The Tigers will then visit Pakistan again for their first ICC World Test Championship fixture, to be held from February 7 to 11 in Rawalpindi.
The last phase of the tour will be played after the Pakistan Super League (PSL) ends on March 22. The last phase will include the one-off ODI, scheduled for April 3 and the second ICC World Test Championship fixture from April 5 to 9, to be played in Karachi.
The two boards have been in discussions regarding the matter for a considerable amount of time in recent past. The BCB had earlier mentioned that it would only prefer playing a short tour, preferably just the three T20Is with the Test rescheduled as per government directives. The PCB was more inclined to play the two Tests first and push the T20Is to a later date.
The PCB chairman Ehsan Mani mentioned that the Pakistan board was pleased to have finally reached an agreeable resolution to the matter.
“I am pleased that we have amicably achieved a resolution that is in the best interest of this great sport as well as both the proud cricket playing countries. I also want to thank ICC Chairman Shaskank Manohar for the leadership he provided and ensured the sport continues to grow and thrive in the two countries,” PCB chairman Mani was quoted as saying in a media release by the PCB yesterday.
While an ODI was not in the original tour schedule, BCB sources said the board kept PCB’s request of including an ODI match to enable their counterpart to cover the cost of accommodating the Bangladesh team in three separate phases.
