ISLAMABAD: Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) President Mustafa Kamal said that international cricket will soon be resumed in Pakistan, Saturday.
BCB chief Mustafa Kamal was addressing a press conference along with Interior Minister Rehman Malik in Islamabad and said that both the countries enjoy cordial relationship with each other and Pakistan played a vital role in the International Cricket Council (ICC) for Bangladesh.
The BCB president along with 8-member delegation is in Pakistan to scrutinize the security situation in the country for the proposed one-day series. He hoped that the matters would proceed positively with time.
He invited Rehman Malik and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Zaka Ashraf to visit Bangladesh.
At the same occasion, Malik assured that the Bangladeshi team would be provided with foolproof security ‘everywhere’ and an effective strategy would be planned according to their wishes.
Stuart Law, Bangladesh’s cricket coach, has refused to tour Pakistan for a proposed one-day series because of security fears. According to reports, Law has told Bangladesh’s cricket board that he will not be available for the tour of Pakistan.
Meanwhile, Pakistani authorities are hoping to convince Bangladesh’s security experts over the next two days that it is safe for them to send their cricketers here for a series that will mark the return of international cricket in the country.
A nine-member team from Bangladesh arrived in Islamabad on Friday night to inspect venues ahead of the proposed trip of Bangladesh’s national team to play a series of one-day matches in Pakistan next month.
Zakar Ashraf, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, and other senior Board officials held a series of meetings with top government officials on Friday ahead of today’s meetings with the Bangladeshi team.
After spending a day in Islamabad, the Bangladeshi team that includes Bangladesh Cricket Board officials and security experts, will visit Lahore on Sunday (tomorrow). PCB officials are hoping that the Bangladeshis will clear the visit of their national team to Pakistan, which has not hosted international cricket since Sri Lankan players were ambushed by gunmen in Lahore three years back. “We are confident that after reviewing our security plans, they (Bangladesh) will confirm their team’s visit,” said a PCB official.
