Some Of Our Star Players Don’t Want To Play T20Is In Pakistan: BCB President Nazmul Hasan

Pakistan cricketers and their fans breath a sigh of relief as cricket has returned home after a decade. Sri Lankan cricket team recently played the gentleman’s game in Pakistan and signed off satisfied with safety and security measures after Pakistan’s first-ever home Test series in ten years. Sri Lanka played limited-overs series in September before they sported white jerseys to play Test cricket.

The two Test matches were hosted in Rawalpindi and Karachi and after an optimistic feedback from Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne and other senior men Angelo Matthews, the Pakistan Cricket Board was pretty confident that Bangladesh Cricket Board would send its team to Pakistan in an attempt to play three T20Is and two Test matches, scheduled in January, next year.

However, there hasn’t been any positive development in Pakistan Cricket Board as the BCB requested PCB to split the Test and the T20 International series, similar to the one they did against Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, Nazmul Hasan, the president of the Bangladesh Cricket Board added that while they are trying to form a T20I team for the Pakistan tour, many senior players were not really interested to participate in the shortest format of the game.

Some of our star players don’t even want to tour Pakistan: Nazmul Islam

Hasan added that the same matter has already been notified to Pakistan Cricket Board and while they are waiting for clearance from the government, the board will not compel any of the players to fly to Pakistan against their decision. “We have already communicated [to the PCB] that we are trying to send a team for the T20s if the players are willing. If the players and the staff are willing and we can manage to form a good team, then we will send our team. Some of our star players have said that they don’t even want to play the T20s.

We are awaiting government clearances. We have already gotten approval from one section and awaiting other instructions. We need clearance from the security agencies. One thing is certain, we won’t force any player to go,” BCB President Nazmul Hasan was quoted as saying by cricketpakistan.com.pk.

Pakistan Cricket Board has already confirmed that they won’t be hosting their home games in neutral venues as they are firm on their opinion of playing all of their home games on Pakistan soil. On the contrary, Nazmul Hasan explained that the reason behind their star players and support staff hesitating to tour is that their families are a tad nervous for the upcoming tour of Pakistan.

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“Many of the coaching staff has already informed us that they don’t want to go. Some of them have said that they do want to go but only for a short period; only a handful though wanted that as most of the foreign staff do not want to go,” he said.

“One of the factors in their decision was their families. Many in their families are very anxious about the Pakistan series. The second factor is how long they can prevail in such a security environment. It is fully secure and very much a closed-off environment. This is what the majority of the players are saying. They do not want to stay that long under such a security environment. Those who have wanted to go said that they want to go and play the T20s and return inside one week,” he signed off.

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