‘All home Tests will take place in Pakistan’
""I will not take a risk with any players’ safety or security. We will listen to everyone who is worried about coming here, but ultimately they’ll have to prove it isn’t safe to come here.
Ehsan Mani
PCB Chairman
With the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) saying that it wanted the Tests for next month’s scheduled Test and T20I tour of Pakistan held in a neutral venue, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ehsan Mani yesterday insisted that there was “absolutely no doubt” Pakistan would play all home series within the country going forward.
Mani was speaking at a press interaction hours after Sri Lanka had concluded a two-Test tour of the country, becoming the first team to play Tests in Pakistan since a Sri Lankan team bus was the target of a terrorist attack in Lahore.
“No one should be under any misapprehension as to where Pakistan’s home Tests will take place,” Mani was quoted by ESPNCricinfo as saying. “All of Pakistan’s matches, against Bangladesh or anyone else, will take place in Pakistan. I still hope the BCB will reflect on the matter and accept there is no reason for them not to visit Pakistan.
“If Sri Lanka can come - and bringing them was very high-risk - then it is safe. If anything even minor had happened, people would have said it isn’t safe to come. But they trusted the people here and came and they [the ones that opted out] said they wished they had come for the limited-overs series as well, because what they’ve been told and the ground realities are very different.”
On Sunday BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury had said that there was a difference in security arrangements between a short T20I tour and a Test series.
But after Sri Lanka’s successful tour, which was preceded by tours by the Bangladesh women’s team and the under-16 side earlier this year, Mani said that the burden of proof had shifted. He also hinted that in case a team refused to tour, they would not be averse to taking the matter to the International Cricket Council for resolution.
“We think it’s safe, and we’ve shown the world it’s safe. Look at what happened in Christchurch [with the Bangladesh team], and incidents can happen in Australia and England, and all around the world. India is at present in far greater turmoil from a security perspective than Pakistan is. I will not take a risk with any players’ safety or security. We will listen to everyone who is worried about coming here, but ultimately they’ll have to prove it isn’t safe to come here.”
“We would absolutely have the right to dispute such a decision with the ICC,” Mani said. “I don’t want to say too much, because our discussions with the BCB are ongoing. When they formally tell us what decision they’ve taken, we’ll see what we need to do.”
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