ODI added instead of practice match: Nazmul Hassan
The solitary ODI was not in the FTP and was added later on in the meeting between BCB President Nazmul Hassan and PCB Chairman Ehsan Mani at Dubai and this decision caused a wave of criticism as the fans were unhappy with the national side travelling to Pakistan twice.
A big feud had been going on between the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in recent days in reference to Bangladesh's scheduled tour of Pakistan in the latter parts of this month.
After negotiations, the two boards managed to reach a decision on the tour as the Tigers will tour Pakistan in three stages, consisting of three T20s, a solitary ODI and a couple of Test matches.
The solitary ODI was not in the FTP and was added later on in the meeting between BCB President Nazmul Hassan and PCB Chairman Ehsan Mani at Dubai and this decision caused a wave of criticism as the fans were unhappy with the national side travelling to Pakistan twice.
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After returning to Dhaka, Nazmul Hassan explained the reason behind adding an ODI. He said that Bangladesh needed a practice match before playing the Tests and BCB thought that playing an ODI is a better exercise than a T20.
"To play at Pakistan we needed a practice match beforehand. We felt that playing an ODI match would be a better preparation," the BCB President said.
He also explained why the T20s were the first part saying that dividing the tour into three parts has seen the expenses for Pakistan increase and thus the T20s were at first so that the PCB could cover their expenses.
"Pakistan are facing a big loss. They asked us if we could play the T20s because that would help them to cover the expenses as it has increased because of the tour being played in three parts. There is not much time to do the marketing all over again," Nazmul added.
He also added that BCB did not budge from their position and the government had advised them to make it a short stay.
"They at first told us to play a full series. Then they said to play the Test matches at first. I think what happened is exactly what we said from day one. When I talked to the media, I said that we will at first play the T20s and then play the Test matches," the BCB President said.
The first part of the Pakistan tour is scheduled later on this month, which includes three T20s which will be played on January 24, 25 and 27 respectively at Lahore. The first Test will commence on February 7 at Rawalpindi and the third part of the tour will be in April when Bangladesh will play an ODI on April 3 and the second Test will follow on February 5, both the games at Karachi.
