Karachi: Pakistan will send an official to assess security in Bangladesh before next month’s cricket Asia Cup, officials said on Wednesday after a wave of election-related violence.
Violence linked to polls in Bangladesh has claimed more than 150 lives since October, but the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) has said the country would still host the five-nation tournament due to start on February 25.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said it continues to have reservations over security and will send an official to attend an International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting in Bangladesh to assess the situation.
The ICC is also likely to decide on the fate of the World Twenty20, scheduled to be held in Bangladesh in March-April this year.
“PCB has decided to send its security representative to Bangladesh to attend the ICC security meeting on January 20 to assess the situation there and report back,” said a statement.
“The PCB does have reservations on the prevailing security situation in Bangladesh with specific reference to Pakistan,” it quoted the board’s interim chairman Najam Sethi as saying.
Sri Lanka has offered to host both the Asia Cup and the World Twenty20 if the security situation in Bangladesh does not improve.
