Hasan is still considering whether to send the national team to Pakistan
Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan has revealed that the board has handed in a written commitment to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), which states that the national team will tour the country at the end of the year.
Hassan failed to mention who wrote the letter, but noted that since the guarantee had been sent, preparations would have to be made in time for the series.
According to reports, the letter was sent to the PCB before Hassan took over as BCB president from Mustafa Kamal on October 18.
“Jalal [Yunus, the BCB’s media committee chairman] said in the last press conference that we haven’t contacted the PCB regarding a tour [but] we have found out that a letter was sent from the BCB about playing there, the Pakistan media started saying that Bangladesh would tour because such a correspondence had indeed taken place,” Hassan said.
According to Hassan, the letter was brief and made no mention of any security or logistical requirements.
“Since we have found out about the letter, we are considering whether it is mandatory to tour Pakistan or if there are any other options. If we go to Pakistan, we need to be assured of adequate security for our team. Actually there are a lot of gaps in that letter, so we have to take all this into account and decide if we want to go or not and if we do [decide positively], then we will go. I would call it a commitment, although it is just a one-line letter, but it is clear the BCB has decided,” Hassan added.
When asked if the letter had been mentioned in his first meeting as president of the board, Hassan said: “This wasn’t on the agenda at the meeting. I wasn’t told about it. I know for a fact that Jalal bhai didn’t know too; maybe the others [directors] did.”
Yunus stated that even though the letter had been sent last month, the PCB had given Bangladesh the power to decide when they felt ready to tour the country.
“The letter was sent just before the new president was appointed. He [Hassan] wasn’t informed during the transition period. [PCB general manager of media] Nadeem Sarwar has denied that PCB president Zaka Ashraf said Bangladesh will tour Pakistan in December. They have left it to Bangladesh to decide,” Yunus added.