Bangladesh cricket teams tour of Pakistan

[Jack Ryan]

BCB president upbeat about positive cricket in Pakistan
SPORTS REPORTER, Dhaka

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan Papon said the upcoming Twenty20 series between Bangladesh and hosts Pakistan will be good and highly competitive.

Citing the last series in India, Nazmul said, “We should have won the series against India. We’re on a winning position in the series after the victory in the series opener though we could not do it finally. We had no Shakib and Tamim. So, there was a big gap due to the absence of these key players.”

“We’ve got some players in BPL who have what we’re seeking for so long. Even some important players have returned to form. Of them, Liton got back in form, Tamim is also playing well though we’re yet to see his hard-hitting strokes, but he got back his confidence and that is a plus-point for us. Afif has been playing well, and so are Naim and Shanto. Off-spinner Mahadi Hasan has also returned to his form. We’ve got to see among them the spirit and courage what are needed for T20,” Nazmul told reporters after holding a meeting with the players, coaching staff, and officials at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur yesterday.

"We have seven batsmen in the line-up. But we will not get scores from them everyday. Maybe two-three among them can fire. We’ve at least six batsmen, who can build a big score and that’s a plus point,” he added.

He tipped the absence of Mushfiqur Rahim as unfortunate. “We’ll miss the service of Mushfiq. He is the dependable batsman for our team. He once again proved in BPL that he is the best. From that point of view, we will definitely miss him,” he added.

“We also won't have Shakib. So, we’ll miss both of them. It is unfortunate for us if we don’t get in-form players. But I think it’ll be a good series. Like them, we hope it’ll be a good series. Bangladesh should win the series,” he said.

The BCB president urged players of the Bangladesh Twenty20 squad to focus more on their games during their tour of Pakistan.

Asserting full security to the players and coaching staff, Papon said there will be no security problem for them in Pakistan because they will go there with full preparation besides the high-security arrangement provided by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

“Any Twenty20 match is a high-tension game. A match could changed at every moment. So, I told them to keep a cool head. Inshallah, nothing will happen. We are with them all. We’ll stay and eat together. There is no problem,” Nazmul said.

“A highly capable team from National Security Intelligence is going with us. There will be personnel from DGFI with us as well. We will take full preparation from our side on what is needed to make this tour successful. We’re trying our best. We didn’t talk about security this time around. There is nothing to worry about security,” he added.

The BCB president entered the stadium and talked with players undergoing practice during their first practice session ahead of their Pakistan tour. He later informed that he had come to Mirpur for four reasons.

He met all the players as he didn’t get a chance to meet them after BPL. Along with that, he has to go out of the country on emergency basis tomorrow night though he will return on January 22. Although he can't accompany the team from the start of the tour, he will meet them in Pakistan on January 23 and stay with them throughout the series.

It was important to make sure which supporting staff are going there, for which he sat with everyone to fix the list. BCB director Akram Khan and chief selector Minhajul Abedin Nannu will accompany the BCB boss in Pakistan.

Bangladesh will fly to Pakistan on Wednesday (January 22) night and reached on Thursday (January 23) morning (10am). The visiting team will hold a light practice on Thursday evening at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, before clashing against the home side under the lights on Friday (January 24).

http://www.theindependentbd.com/post/233078

[AntiDalal]

Really disappointed with the teams performance, Feeling somewhat angry at mushfiq for abandoning the team when we need him the most. Can't wait for Shakib to be back.

[ssud11]

1 hour ago, AntiDalal said:

Really disappointed with the teams performance, Feeling somewhat angry at mushfiq for abandoning the team when we need him the most. Can't wait for Shakib to be back.

This performance just shows how 'broken' we are without Shakib in t20 specially. I just hope he can come back strongly in future.

[Salted Cola]

All umpires were from Pakistan, How is this even allowed? 

Trash performance from the team but few highlights so far.... Naim shows his talent and can be future key in the top order, Shafiul and Al Amin excellent bowling. 

Mustafiz has no fizz anymore.

[ssud11]

7 hours ago, Salted Cola said:

All umpires were from Pakistan, How is this even allowed? 

Trash performance from the team but few highlights so far.... Naim shows his talent and can be future key in the top order, Shafiul and Al Amin excellent bowling. 

Mustafiz has no fizz anymore.

Unfortunately, it's been a common practice for ages to be honest, we also put  full Bangladeshi umpires in our home matches sometimes.

[Maisson]

Members of the NSI and DGFI are accompanying the Bangladesh cricket team to Pakistan to protect it. This is possibly the first time Bangladeshi intelligence agents are officially accompanying the national team reflecting both the danger of the tour and also Bangladesh's assertive policy in relation to its national security.

[Amit Sahani]

Why Pakistan can't tour Bangladesh instead?

[Salted Cola]

27 minutes ago, Amit Sahani said:

Why Pakistan can't tour Bangladesh instead?

Pakistan Cricket Board is making a delusional argument, that they will host all home series in Pakistan now and all International Events as well because Pakistan is now "safe".

 They seem to be of the opinion that If they can some how get Bangladesh to visit them for the longer formats, the Whities will also come. 

Anyone who reads Pakistani news can see how secure their country is, Blast happened there just a few weeks ago. There is no way England, Australia or New Zealand will come to Pakistan. Even India wont and the upcoming Asia Cup cant be hosted in Pakistan, the situation isn't that stable yet But the PCB keeps on chirping away.

Its an accident just waiting to happen, and when it does Pakistani Cricket will be the worst hit.

 

[Amit Sahani]

Bangladesh shouldn't have visited Pakistan purely on safety grounds. They tried to use Bangladesh as you said to prove 'safe Pakistan'.

[Jetfore]

Bangladesh shouldn’t have accepted the invitation and at the same time shouldn’t blame the security situation to subdue their miserable exhibition of cricket. After Shakib’s ban the team has lost that pizzazz that ummf factor. They desperately need a morale booster. However, playing with second rate teams like Zimbabwe would do no good for Bangladesh. They need good quality oppositions to improve win and boost the confidence of the entire team as a whole.