Kamal insists that Bangladesh never gave any “unconditional commitment” to tour Pakistan
Former Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president and current International Cricket Council (ICC) vice-president Mustafa Kamal has revealed that the national team never had an “unconditional commitment” to tour Pakistan, which contradicts what current BCB president Nazmul Hassan said in December.
Kamal noted that the idea of touring Pakistan was a great one, but added that the final decision rested with the BCB, who have already postponed the tour twice.
“It [unconditional commitment] was not in any ICC meetings’ minutes,” Kamal said. “I have not missed a single meeting [in my time as BCB president]. Such things cannot be written in minutes of a meeting. I deny it, this cannot have happened.
“There were a lot of discussions in the ICC and those have been mentioned in their minutes. At every instance it was mentioned that if Bangladesh tours Pakistan, the ICC will be involved in some capacity. The assessment of their security team will determine whether they’ll send officials or not. We have never said that we will bypass the ICC, which will set a precedent for other countries. It is true that ICC wants Bangladesh to tour Pakistan, otherwise discussions wouldn’t be mentioned in its books.”
However, when announcing the postponement of the Bangladesh’s tour to Pakistan in December, Hassan stated that a commitment had been made in an ICC meeting in April 2012.
In November Hassan also revealed that the BCB had handed a written commitment to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and ICC about the tour.
Despite not agreeing with Hassan’s “unconditional commitment” theory, Kamal insisted that Bangladesh should go to Pakistan since he believes it is about time that international cricket was revived in the troubled nation.
“It was my initiation, and I wouldn’t deny it,” Kamal said. “Bangladesh must go to Pakistan, and I know a lot has been written against me. But it was my work and if I hadn’t [done the job], nothing would be written against me.”