Bangladesh Cricket Board president AHM Mustafa Kamal (C) speaks at a press conference at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Monday. — New Age photo

Bangladesh will send its cricket team to Pakistan only if the International Cricket Council agrees to provide neutral umpires, said the Bangladesh Cricket Board president AHM Mustafa Kamal on Monday.
Kamal was speaking at a press conference upon his return from Pakistan where he led a delegation to assess the security situation in the violence-prone country.
While the delegation was making their visit, the chief executive officers’ committee of the ICC in a meeting said that countries can arrange a bilateral series in extraordinary circumstances without having a neutral umpire which is otherwise compulsory for all international cricket matches.
The ICC statement put Bangladesh under immense pressure to agree with the proposal of Pakistan who are desperate to get international cricket back in their country.
Bangladesh’s situation further compounded after Kamal made a series of statements in Pakistan expressing his satisfaction over the security arrangement.
It almost made the tour obvious for Bangladesh, leaving Kamal in a tricky position as he is facing opposition from many corners over sending the team to Pakistan.
It was even reported that the foreign coaching staff and some senior cricketers are reluctant to visit Pakistan.
‘I will not go, I can tell you as a cricket board president of Bangladesh I won’t go if there is anything beyond standard practice,’ Kamal said at the press conference.
‘The standard practice is that ICC has got a responsibility and it is to come up with match officials. All support services staff have to be from the ICC. If the ICC says “it is bilateral and you both countries discuss it”, in that case we are not going there,’ he said.
Kamal, however, said as the president of the Asian Cricket Council he has some responsibility towards Pakistan who has not seen international cricket in their backyard since the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team bus in March 2009.
‘Feeling the gravity of the current scenario I felt it is urgent to visit Pakistan and thus I did so. I will inform the ICC about what we have seen there and will ask if they feel it is safe to send a team there,’ said Kamal.
‘I am president of the Asian Cricket Council as well. And for that I obviously have some sympathy for Pakistan,’ said Kamal.
‘The report will come very soon. We will not take a long time to make the decision. This is not a normal case but we have to engage the ICC here also. We will make a decision by this month and we have to have the permission of the government as well,’ he added.