Lahore
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Wednesday reiterated that they want the home series against Bangladesh to be played on Pakistan’s home ground after conducting the two scheduled Test matches against Sri Lanka in December.
“We stand by our policy of not playing any home series fixtures abroad,” a PCB spokesperson told Geo News.
“Initial plans regarding Bangladesh’s upcoming tour have been sent to them (Bangladesh management). Venues and dates are yet to be finalised,” said the PCB representative.
The two Test matches are scheduled to be played in the first-phase of the series, while three T20I fixtures are set to be held in the second phase.
Pakistan will host Bangladesh men’s cricket team between January to February in 2020. The Bangladesh women and Under-16 team recently toured in Pakistan hosted.
The women played a series of ODI and T20I matches at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore while the youngsters played the series in Rawalpindi.
Prior to the teams’ visit, a security delegation from Bangladesh Cricket Board visited Pakistan and went through the security plans of all the three series.
“It is not possible that one half of the series is played in one place, and the other half in another. It’s not even possible to think about that anymore, because if that happens, then PSL and any future series to be played in Pakistan will be negatively affected,” said a source within the PCB.
“PCB feels that there should be no issue for the men’s team to visit now as two teams from the country (Bangladesh) have already been hosted by us,” the source added.
PSL’s fifth edition will be played completely in Pakistan. Players from different countries such as Australia, England, West Indies, Ireland, Afghanistan and South Africa have also been invited to play in Pakistan.
“Our plans may backfire if in such a situation we play the home-series abroad,” the source said. The two Test matches set to be played against Bangladesh are part of International Cricket Council’s World Test championship. If they refuse to play, their points will be deducted.—APP
