December too tight: Papon

Ever since the ICC meeting took place in Dubai last month, there have been talks regarding a possible series in December for the Tigers. BCB president Nazmul Hasan Papon, who attended that meeting, was involved in informal discussions with both the cricket boards of India and Pakistan on the sideline about a possible window.

Speaking to The Daily Star regarding the opportunity Papon said: “At the moment the situation seems to be a little too tight for us.

“The fact is that we have very little time. We have got the Zimbabwe series in November and after that we have the Bangladesh Premier League. Our players will get a short break after the BPL and then Zimbabwe will be back.”

“We have to keep in mind that we will be playing the Asia Cup and the World T20 in a few months time. There will be one event after the other and we can't risk our players getting injured. They will hardly be getting a 15-day break and they might need that to recover,” added the BCB president.

The BCB boss made this observation a few hours after Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Shahryar Khan, while speaking to a Bangladeshi television channel, said that they were open to play a series against Bangladesh in Dubai after the BPL in December.

When contacted, BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury said that the PCB is yet to officially approach the BCB regarding the tour.

The BPL's third season is set to begin on November 22 after the Zimbabwe series ends on November 15. The T20 tournament will take place in Dhaka and Chittagong and end on December 15. The window of opportunity that is being discussed here begins after this period and will extend until Zimbabwe arrive again to play two Tests in January.