Won’t settle for anything less than two Test matches, says Mani as BCB remains indecisive

LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ehsan Mani said Friday (according to sources) that the board won’t settle for anything less than two Test matches with Bangladesh, as the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) delayed a decision on sending its team to Pakistan for a series.

As per a media report, the PCB chairman spoke to his Bangladeshi counterpart and told him politely that the PCB would settle for nothing less than a two-Test series, which will be part of the ICC World Test Championship.

In the same telephonic conversation, it is said that the BCB President Nazmul Hassan told Mani he will be in a position to take a decision on sending the team to Pakistan by Monday (January 13).

Bangladesh have been insisting on playing just one Test match in Pakistan. They are also willing to play three T20 Internationals but the Pakistanis have refused to agree to that.

Mani has made it clear to the BCB boss that the least PCB will settle for is a two-Test series. PCB has made it clear that if the duration of the tour was an issue then they can reschedule the T20 series for some other slot but there would be no compromise on the two-match Test series.

The reason why PCB are adamant on having two Tests at home rather the one as suggested by BCB is simple: A one-off Test match won’t count in the ICC Test Championship. “It has to be at least a two-Test championship like the one we hosted against Sri Lanka recently,” a senior PCB official told The News on Thursday night.