Bangladesh ‘surprised’ by PCB’s decision to cancel tour

Says they are yet to receive official confirmation from Pakistan board

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) media committee chairman Jalal Yunus revealed that the board has been caught by surprise over the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) decision to cancel the series expected to be held in July and August.

Yunus also said that the board came to know about the news of the cancellation through the media and is yet to receive any official confirmation from their Pakistani counterparts.

"We are really surprised. Even a month ago we knew that the tour was on," said Yunus, according to ESPNcricinfo. "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 went into a deal that we will play two series for the following two years in Bangladesh.”

He further added, "There was even a financial issue, which was dealt with at the time. They said they wanted to play here [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."

Pakistan have toured Bangladesh twice since the latter’s last tour in 2007-08.

Earlier, PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan had stated that the board decided to cancel the tour because Bangladesh failed to reciprocate the visit.

“We had spoken about the possibility of hosting them [Bangladesh in Pakistan] this year,” said Shaharyar. “Pakistan have 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.”