Asia Cup to remain in Bangladesh
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) officials are yet to finalise their stand on Sri Lanka’s upcoming bilateral cricket tour to Bangladesh, however the tour may not be a serious matter after the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) decided to go ahead with the Asia Cup. ACC’s decision to move on with the Asia Cup without a venue change after a special meeting held in Colombo yesterday, would give SLC officials an unendorsed assurance. But Nishantha Ranatunga told the Sunday Times that SLC will continue to closely monitor the situation of violence-marred Bangladesh and will wait until the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) comes out with their feedback.
“Hopefully the situation there will improve. We are waiting for their (BCB) feedback on situation and by January 8 we will be able to come to a final decision. So far there is no sign of the tour being called off,” Ranatunga told the Sunday Times. However at the ACC meeting it was reported that SLC said it would go ahead with the month-long bilateral tour which includes two Tests, three ODIs and a couple of Twenty20 games, beginning from January 27.
SLC’s grave concern has been the security of its players and officials after the bus that took the Sri Lanka team to the Ghadafi Stadium in Lahore during a Test match against Pakistan was attacked by militants in 2009. A similar situation has plagued Bangladesh after the recent political chaos. International teams seriously considered on touring Bangladesh after the West Indies Under-19 team decided to call off their tour after a bomb blast incident outside the hotel the team was housed at.
“We seriously look into player safety and security and we have been guaranteed of that by the BCB. But we will wait a few more days to get a full clearance,” Ranatunga added.
However the ACC firmly decided not to change the venue for the Asia Cup which will begin soon after Sri Lanka’s bilateral tour from February 25, despite violence, protests and strikes continuing to take place in Bangladesh. The situation is expected to improve after the general elections which will take place today.
ACC Chief Executive Syed Ashraful Huq told reporters that ‘the tournament will go ahead as planned in Bangladesh from February 25’ after the Asian cricket officials met in Colombo at a special meeting.
“Everything has been set for the tourna- ment. The BCB presented a detailed security presentation at the meeting and no one raised any issue on safety or security concerns,” Huq told reporters.
According to Ranatunga the ACC has decided to include Afghanistan as the fifth team in contention making the Asia Cup a five-nation battle. This would mean that Afghanistan will join ICC full members India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in the One Day International competition.
As a result the number of matches has been raised to a total of 11 with the final scheduled to be played on March 8.
SLC had earlier expressed its keenness to host the Asia Cup as well as the upcoming ICC World Twenty20 Championship 2014 but with the final decision being already made yesterday Ranatunga said they would stick to the decision made at the meeting.
“We offered to be the host if Bangladesh faces a situation where they will not be in a position to hold the Asia Cup. But the final decision was made at the ACC meeting yesterday and that’s it,” Ranatunga said.
According to sources all five teams have confirmed their participation including Pakistan who had sought government advice on sending its cricket team to Bangla- desh who is also set to host the International Cricket Council (ICC) event, the World Twenty20 Championship 2014, from March 16 to April 6. The ICC, according to reports, will continue to closely monitor the situation in Bangladesh as Sri Lanka and will wait until a full security report from BCB after January 8.
Yesterday’s ACC special meeting in Colombo was headed by its Chairman N. Sriniva- san, who is also the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India. SLC was represented by its President Jayantha Dharmadasa and Secretary Nishantha Ranatunga. Pakistan Cricket Board CEO Subhan Ahmed, BCB President Nazmul Hassan, its CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhry and Presidents representing Cricket Associations of Kuwait, Singapore, Thailand and Bhutan also attended.