Reports: PCB seeks formal permission from BCB to hoist national flag during practice session

Pakistan Cricket Board is learned to have sought official permission from Bangladesh Cricket Board to hoist their national flag during the practice session. Pakistan team is currently in Dhaka, the venue of the three-match T20I series that gets underway from November 19.

A Geo TV report, on November 17, stated that the BCB will inform Pakistan authorities regarding their decision soon. The development comes after the travelling team hoisted the flag without permission during their practice session at the Sher-E-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, leading to severe social media backlash, including a serious reaction from state minister Murad Hasan.

“I have nothing to say about the players on the Pakistan team,” Hasan told reporters while visiting the bookstore of publisher Batighar in Chattogram on Tuesday. “But we can’t accept them hoisting the Pakistan flag during practice sessions. Especially at a time when we’re celebrating the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, when we’re celebrating the golden jubilee of our independence. I believe they should be sent back along with their flag,” he said.

The two nations share a long and tense political history, as Bangladesh gained independence in 1971 after the Liberation War, an armed conflict that marked the end of Pakistan rule in what was then East Pakistan. “Our hearts wrench when we see the Pakistani flag. Why do they need the flag for a practice session? Is it drama or farce? This should not be allowed. We fought them and earned our independence through the blood of 3 million martyrs,” Hasan said.

However, Pakistan’s interim coach Saqlain Mushtaq claimed the hoisting of the Pakistan flag as only a symbolic representation of “220 million people are with us”.

Pakistan are in Bangladesh for the first time after the 2016 Asia Cup. The two teams will play three T20Is at Dhaka’s Shere Bangla National Stadium from November 19 to 22, followed by two Tests in Chattogram (November 26 to 30) and Dhaka (December 4 to 8). Pakistan will return from Bangladesh to host West Indies for three T20Is and as many T20Is between December 13 to 22, with all the fixtures taking place at the National Stadium in Karachi.