BCB: Sri Lanka tour postponed amid security concerns

Bangladesh was slated to tour Sri Lanka in July to play three ODIs, scheduled on July 25, 27 and 29 this year. However, chances of this tour becoming a reality looks slim, because of the BCB chief’s announcement.

He made the comment to reporters during an impromptu press conference at his residence in Dhaka on Saturday. BCB was also expected to send their Bangladesh A-team for a bilateral series in September.  

“The BCB is monitoring the security situation in Sri Lanka, following last month's serial blasts in Sri Lanka that left over 300 people dead, and many more injured. We must remain cautious after Pakistan Under-19 tour in Sri Lanka was postponed for indefinite period,” the BCB chief said.

“There is no way we can send our team to Sri Lanka amid the ongoing security situation. We have taken these issues under consideration. We were expected to send our junior and senior cricket team there. They had invited us ahead of the Sri Lankan cricket league,” he added. 

“But we have to keep in mind that the security condition of Sri Lanka presently doesn’t permit us to travel there. Not only Bangladesh, I don’t think any other team won’t be considering traveling to Sri Lanka in this condition,” he told reporters.

Nazmul Hasan warned that the most concerning fact is even the Sri Lankan president had told the BCB that there is another possibility of terrorist attack there. 

“As they [Sri Lankan authorities] have said that there is a possibility of another terrorist attack, we are not thinking about making a tour in Sri Lanka just now. If the situation calms down, and they give us the assurance that nothing bad will happen, only then we can think about a Sri Lanka tour,” he told the press.

‘’There is no possibility of our team going there [in immediate future]. If our own intelligence gives us the clearance, then there is a chance. But we are not thinking about Sri Lanka tour now,” the BCB chief concluded.

In March, Bangladesh's tour of New Zealand was called off immediately after a terrorist attack on two Christchurch mosques. Most members of the touring party were nearly caught in the crosshairs after they arrived at the Al Noor Mosque, the site of one of the attacks, just minutes after the shooter had left the scene.

Nazmul Hasan has assured that their security team will properly assess the security of countries they are expected to tour in the future, as the BCB are trying to avoid a repetition of the Christchurch incident.