Pakistan will learn later this week whether the Bangladesh cricket team will tour the country next month with the visitors waiting to receive the go-ahead from their government.
Pakistan and Bangladesh are slated to play three T20Is and two Tests starting on January 23 with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) hoping to stage all matches on their home soil. The PCB has even requested their Bangladesh counterparts to accommodate a day-night Test in Karachi following the Tigers getting their first taste of the pink-ball action in India last month.
“The idea behind encouraging day-night cricket and offering Bangladesh is to counter the problem of dwindling crowds,” PCB chairman Ehsan Mani had told ESPNcricinfo recently.
“It’s really unfair to play Test cricket in front of empty stadiums and with this idea we hope crowds will turn up for this unique experience after their job in the evening.
Touchdown Islamabad 🛬@OfficialSLC arrived this morning for the #PAKvSL Test series.
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) December 9, 2019
The action starts in two days, get your tickets now. See you at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. pic.twitter.com/FKlr7nm6vb
“Now, almost every Test cricket playing member has started playing day-night cricket and we think at least one day-night Test should be played in a series.
“Even India captain Virat Kohli who was bit cautious about the day-night Test, now after the recent game against Bangladesh at home turned into an ambassador of this idea so it’s good for the future.”
However, Mani and the PCB will have to first wait and see if Bangladesh do accept their proposal to tour the country.
“Before discussing the proposal to play day-night Test, we are awaiting the government directive because of the security issue in Pakistan,” Bangladesh Cricket Board chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury was quoted as saying by Kaler Kantho.
“We will need the government’s permission. We have to first see if we can go on this tour. We don’t have much time as the tour is scheduled for next month.
“We are hopeful that we can clear our position on the tour this week. We will know if we are going to Pakistan or not.”
Should Bangladesh give the green light for the tour to go ahead, then they will become the second team to play Test cricket in Pakistan in over a decade. Pakistan has not hosted a Test since 2009 after a terrorist attack on the touring Sri Lankan team bus brought international cricket to a standstill in the country.
That excruciating wait ends on Wednesday when Pakistan take on Sri Lanka in Rawalpindi in the first Test between the two sides. The second and final Test between the two sides will get under way at the National Stadium in Karachi on December 19.
