Bangladesh women's cricket team comfortable playing in Pakistan
Bangladesh Women’s cricket team captain Salma Khatun revealed that her side is looking forward to playing in Pakistan, NDTV Sports reports. The two Asian countries are set to play two T20 matches and two ODIs later this year and Khatun said that they were comfortable playing in Pakistan and added that “it feels like home.”
Most major cricket playing nations have shunned an opportunity of playing in the country since the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team bus back in 2009. The incident led to the death of eight people as well as causing injuries to several Sri Lankan players.
Pakistan's isolation from international cricket ended when Zimbabwe toured the country for a short limited-over series earlier this year, but further hopes that cricket at the international level could be played on a more consistent basis was dashed as a bomb went off during the last match. The last high-profile teams to play in Pakistan were India and Sri Lanka when they toured in 2006.
Bangladesh themselves have felt the effects of security concerns with Australia postponing their upcoming tour to Bangladesh for a two-Test series indefinitely. The women’s team, however, has stated that they have no problems with touring Pakistan.
Scheduled tours in 2012 and 2013 were called off due to security concerns but the team decided to go ahead with the tour this time around after a visit to Pakistan by a security delegation deemed it safe to play cricket in the country.
"We are here to play cricket and are comfortable," she said at the launch of the series that which will be played entirely in Karachi. "It is just like our home and we are fully prepared to play against Pakistan, which is a very strong team.”
The first of the two T20’s will be played on October 1 followed by the second the next day itself. The two ODI’s will be played on October 4 and 6. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has promised foolproof security to the touring Bangladeshi women's team and the players will be staying at the same club where they will play the matches.
PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan said that the women's team tour is part of his efforts to revive international cricket in his Pakistan.