BCB seeks government's help to ensure India's tour: report

MIRPUR: Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) President Tamim Iqbal met government high-ups, requesting them to initiate communication with their Indian counterparts and assuring them that the country is ready to host the Indian men's cricket team, international media reported on Friday.

According to a report by an international cricket news website, Iqbal, alongside BCB Security Committee chairman Sayeed Ibrahim, met Bangladesh's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Shama Obaed Islam, at her office on Friday and sought the government's support in facilitating the home series against India.

The report further suggested that Iqbal, when approached, acknowledged the meeting without elaborating further.

For the unversed, after months of strained relationship between the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the BCB, which stemmed from Bangladesh's experienced pacer Mustafizur Rahman's removal from the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL), the latter board started efforts to salvage their cricketing ties in April.

In a letter to the BCCI, the BCB also highlighted India men's cricket team's tour to Bangladesh, scheduled for September, which was postponed last year due to the diplomatic situation between the two neighbouring countries.

However, media reports last month indicated that the long-delayed series could finally take place in the aforementioned window as the BCB reportedly invited bids for the television and digital media rights covering its home international fixtures for 2026 and 2027.

Although neither cricket board had officially commented on the reported progress of the tour until the start of this month, BCB security committee chairman Ibrahim expressed their readiness to provide the Indian cricket team with full-scale security if they cross the border for the bilateral white-ball series in August-September.

Ibrahim also clarified that there were no such positive messages from the BCCI yet but insisted that the preparations were underway for India's tour, which he claimed was "coming up very soon".

"Security is always a concern for every touring side, especially for the major cricketing nations. We have not yet formally started communication with them (BCCI). We are hopeful there will be no complaints if the tour takes place as planned," Ibrahim told reporters in Dhaka.

"We always try to organise our events in a controlled environment and ensure the highest standards of security. We will continue to do that.

"It (security measures) will depend on the situation (during the India series) and if required we will enhance the security.

"There has been no such positive message yet (with the BCCI) and we are still working out the details of the tour. We are trying to establish communication through our formal channels because the tour is coming up very soon."