BCB Chief Aims To Convince Foreign Teams To Tour Pakistan

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) President Mustafa Kamal is on a special mission here in India, which is to try and convince the other nations to tour Pakistan.

“I am in India to witness the IPL,” he said on Tuesday while talking from his Mumbai hotel as he prepared to leave for Chennai.

“Due to political reasons, the Indian team is not touring Pakistan. But I shall try to convince the other boards like South Africa, England etc to send their teams to Pakistan,” he said.

“For how long can we neglect Pakistan? How long can they host their ‘home’ series at neutral venues?” he asked. “We cannot ignore Pakistan like this.”

According to Mustafa, Bangladesh does not have any issue relating to neutral or non-neutral match officials for the Pakistan tour, but the BCB obviously is looking for whole-hearted support from the ICC regarding the tour.

“Our team will tour Pakistan. I don’t know when it would happen. What if we go there only and other boards continue to ignore Pakistan,” he said. “I shall take up this issue in the ICC board meeting. I want a full-fledged approval from the ICC for the tour,” added Mustafa.

“Yes, we have received security report from government of Bangladesh (the report has not been prepared by the BCB). It is a neutral report. It is neither positive nor negative,” he informed.

Since the Lahore attack, Pakistan have had to play all their ‘home’ matches on foreign soil, mostly in the United Arab Emirates, and their share of 2011 World Cup games was moved out of the country for security reasons.

“So far no player or support staff has expressed concern over touring Pakistan. Their views will only be obtained once the Pakistan tour is confirmed,” disclosed the BCB chief.

After witnessing the opening ceremony in Chennai, Mustafa will also watch the KKR match against Delhi Daredevils in Kolkata on Thursday before returning to Dhaka.

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