BCB won't bow to PCB pressure

Did the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) indulge in a ploy to put pressure on Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) regarding their scheduled tour to Bangladesh later this year?

The question was raised after the PCB disclosed to the media late on Wednesday that their team will not tour Bangladesh this year to play two Tests, three ODIs and a T20i series in July and August as scheduled.

The BCB however will not bow down to any pressure; they will rather stick to the original schedule according to Future Tours Programme (FTP).

“We were really surprised but we haven't heard anything from them through official correspondence. We got the news through the media that they want to cancel the tour but we believe that the tour is on as scheduled,” said BCB media committee chairman Jalal Yunus in response to the news from PCB.

“We also read that it has been postponed indefinitely by mutual consent but this is not true because we didn't know anything regarding PCB's change of plans. But the one thing I can assure is that we will stick to the original schedule,” he continued.

"There was a discussion between both board chiefs during this week's ICC meeting in Dubai. This upcoming series was ours to host according to the FTP. In 2015 the two boards struck a deal that we will play two series for the following two years in Bangladesh.

"There was even a financial issue, which was dealt with at the time. They said they wanted to play in Bangladesh till 2017. They wanted Bangladesh to play two T20s in Pakistan before continuing the series here. We don't want to play there. We want to stick to our schedule, which has the whole series being played in Bangladesh. We have cleared the financial issues so there's no need to talk about those things now," he explained.

Meanwhile, PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan told ESPNCricinfo that: "We had spoken about the possibility of hosting them [Bangladesh in Pakistan] this year. Pakistan have now toured Bangladesh twice without them reciprocating, and we feel we cannot tour Bangladesh for the third straight time. Therefore, we have decided to postpone the tour, and will explore another window in the next year or so."

Bangladesh last toured Pakistan in 2007-08, for a five-ODI series. Since then, Pakistan have toured Bangladesh twice, in 2011-12 and 2015. The PCB had invited Bangladesh for a two-match T20I series this year, only for the BCB to rebuff the invitation.

The leading cricket nations have not visited Pakistan for security reasons ever since the 2009 Lahore attack on the Sri Lanka team bus.