PCB Propose to Host Two Tests in January, Ball in BCB's Court
Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hassan has said the Pakistan Cricket Board has proposed to host the two-Test series later this month.
Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hassan has said the Pakistan Cricket Board has proposed to host the two-Test series later this month.
Pakistan are scheduled to host Bangladesh for two Tests and three T20Is in January-February, but Bangladesh have asked to play the T20Is before taking a call on the Test series owing to security reasons. The PCB want to play the Tests first, before hosting the T20Is in the led up to the T20 World Cup later this year.
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“We asked them to play Twenty20s but today they proposed us to play Test matches. They said they will play the Twenty20 bilateral series before the Twenty20 World Cup in Pakistan," said Nazmul.
“We informed them that we wanted to play three T20Is first and return home. We told them that we might tour Pakistan later on to play the Tests if we manage to reschedule the tour, but they are more interested in hosting Tests as it is a part of the ICC Test Championship. They said they have no problem hosting three Twenty20s later on. We are yet to take a final decision on that. I hope we will take the final decision tomorrow."
Nazmul also confirmed that Mushfiqur Rahim is not willing to tour Pakistan, while a few other players are ready for short tours.
“Mushfiqur never showed any interest in touring Pakistan. The other players said that they wanted a short tour. We have informed PCB about our players’ consent," he said. “We won’t get most of our coaches, but our head coach is ready if it is a short tour.
“I asked them about PSL and they said that just registering their name does not imply they are playing in the PSL. They have to be picked first and later they require getting the NoC (No-objection certificate) from us. So it’s a long way."
The BCB president also said Bangladesh are willing to play one Test. But such an option would mean it won’t count towards the ICC World Test Championship, which requires minimum two Tests in a series.
“If we play one Test then it will take less amount of time than playing a Twenty20 series. If we want to play a T20 series it will take us seven days and we can complete the one-off Test series within six days: five match days and one travel day. We are not saying we won’t play Tests there but our duration has to be short."
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