The Bangladesh Cricket Board said that they were looking for alternative options in the vacant window of the now-deferred India series as the Pakistan national cricket team arrived in Dhaka on Wednesday for a three-match T20I series starting July 20.听
The Bangladesh national team was taking on Sri Lanka in the third and final T20I of the series on Wednesday at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, with the team level on 1-1 after the first two matches.听
The Liton Das-led team is supposed to return to the country today and will begin their official practice session for the Pakistan series only on July 19.听
However, the Pakistan team is scheduled to begin their practice session a day before, according to the official itinerary published by the BCB.听
Bangladesh were supposed to play a white-ball series against India after the Pakistan series, but that was deferred to September next year upon 鈥榤utual agreement鈥� in early July.
Therefore, Bangladesh don鈥檛 have an international series before the Asia Cup, which is scheduled for September.听
The BCB is currently exploring options to fill the vacant window in their schedule.听
鈥榃e have already decided whether we can arrange some internal matches at that time,鈥� said Nazmul Abedeen Fahim, the chairman of the BCB鈥檚 cricket operations, on Wednesday.听
鈥榃e did this before; the national team played against the 鈥楢鈥� team. Our [initial] plan was like that.听
Right now, we are thinking about whether we can play with another team or play outside the country for a limited time. If it doesn't happen, then we will play matches internally,鈥� added Fahim.听
Fahim also said that they wanted a stable team for the T20 format before the Asia Cup to maintain a certain consistency going into the World Cup next year.听
鈥業t鈥檚 impossible for me to say this,鈥� Fahim said when he was asked if there was any opportunity of experimenting in the Pakistan series.听
鈥楾his will be decided by the coach, the captain, and the selectors. But ultimately we will want a complete team before the Asia Cup,鈥� said Fahim.听
鈥榃e don't want to chop and change. If that鈥檚 so necessary, that鈥檚 a different issue. But we will want consistency till the World Cup. Because the team needs to be stable. I hope that there won鈥檛 be so much experimenting,鈥� he concluded.听
Bangladesh had been experiencing a challenging phase in the T20 format, despite their victory in the second match against Sri Lanka, which marked their first win after six consecutive defeats.听
They had lost series to the UAE and Pakistan in the proceedings.
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