Dhaka High Court postpones Bangladesh's cricket tour to Pakistan

Dhaka, April 19 (IANS) The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) suffered a huge set-back Thursday when, citing security concerns, the Dhaka High Court ordered the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) to postpone by four weeks the national team's tour to Pakistan slated to start next week.

The court delivered the order on a writ petition filed Thursday morning by a university teacher and a Supreme Court lawyer. The petitioners challenged BCB's decision to send the team at the end of April for a three-day tour. They cited security concerns for their injunction plea.

"The ICC asked for a security plan from PCB. They have still not given it. Pakistan is not safe for any foreign team now. Their own media says so. For that reason, no country agrees to play there. Under the same circumstances, we should not go there also," said Hasan Azim, one of the lawyers for the petitioners.

The court also asked the sports secretary, the National Sports Council chief and Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) chief Mustafa Kamal to explain why the decision for the tour was taken.

Bangladesh are scheduled to play a one-day game and a Twenty20 match at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on April 29 and 30, respectively. They will be the first international cricket team to tour Pakistan since the 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore.

For the last three years, Pakistan has been a no-go zone for international teams and they had to play most of their home matches at neutral venues, mostly in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.