The Pakistan-Bangladesh tour has been curtailed to three T20Is, after political tensions with India extended the Pakistan Super League by a week.
After a prolonged period of uncertainty, the Bangladesh men’s cricket team has confirmed its tour of Pakistan for a three-match T20I series, all of which will take place at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. This decision comes after a lengthy meeting between the PCB chairman, Mohsin Naqvi and the BCB chair, Nazmul Abedin, along with the president, Farooq Ahmed.
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Originally, the tour itinerary included five T20Is beginning on May 25 in Faisalabad. However, the plan was revised and shortened to three matches, with the updated schedule expected to be released shortly. The change in venues and the reduction in matches were influenced by the mid-season interruption of the PSL due to the rising political conflict with India earlier in the month. The PSL final is now scheduled for May 25, the same day as the originally planned start of the series.
Bangladesh’s Rishad Hossain had expressed the distress the overseas players faced after the Indian Premier League and the PSL were postponed as the cross-border tensions between the two nations increased. Pakistan faced the closure of their airspace as travel was disrupted, leading to an emergency evacuation of the overseas players in the PSL, several of whom have not returned for the resumption.
Faisalabad’s return to international cricket postponed
In the original schedule, the first two T20Is were scheduled to be played at Faisalabad on May 25 and 27. It would have marked the first instance in 17 years that the city was hosting an international game, having last seen the Pakistan-Bangladesh ODI game being played back in 2008. The Iqbal Stadium has hosted a total of 40 men's international games, and the first match would have been its T20I debut before the schedule was altered.
This is the second time the series schedule has been changed – the 2023-27 Future Tours Programme (FTP) had three ODIs and three T20Is pencilled in, before the boards decided to scrap the ODIs and play five T20Is instead.
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