Indian coaching members of Bangladesh women’s team not to travel to Pakistan

Bangladesh women’s cricket team is set to tour Pakistan next month but the Indian members of its coaching staff will not travel there. The reason is the ongoing political tensions between India and Pakistan, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) authorities said on Sunday. Relations between the two nuclear-armed neighbors have reached rock bottom over New Delhi’s recent move to revoke Article 370 of the Constitution that had treated Jammu and Kashmir as a special case.

The Bangladesh women’s team is set to play in Pakistan between October 26 and November 4 and the tour will feature three T20Is and two ODIs at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium. The tour is, however, subject to security clearance by the Bangladesh government. The Sri Lankan men’s team is currently touring Pakistan for two limited-over series although it too looked uncertain. 10 Sri Lankan players though pulled out of the series citing security reasons. The first ODI of the series at Karachi’s National Stadium was abandoned because of heavy rain.

Indian coaches to travel to Sri Lanka instead

BCB Chief Executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury said if the tour goes ahead, head coach Anju Jain, assistant coach Devika Palshikar and trainer Kavita Pandey will not travel to Pakistan, News18 cites agencies as saying. The Indian coaching staff members will travel with the Bangladesh team that will head to Sri Lanka to play in the ACC Emerging Women’s Asia Cup between October 20 and 28.

“We will have another team traveling to Sri Lanka almost at the same period. We’ve decided to send our Indian coaching staff to Sri Lanka instead of Pakistan to avoid any travel complications,” Chowdhury was quoted as saying. “We have started the process. Before confirming the series we are also planning to send someone to see the security arrangement for the Sri Lanka team in their ongoing series.”

A number of international teams have avoided touring Pakistan ever since the Sri Lankan men’s national team had come under a terror attack in Lahore in 2009. Recently, a top West Indian woman cricketer refused to travel to Pakistan to play matches there. A few bilateral series have taken place but major teams have refused to travel to Pakistan.

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