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Allrounder admits that batting challenge in India has been hardest of his career

Andrew Miller04-Mar-2021Ben Stokes says that the conditions England have faced in the past three Tests in India have been the hardest challenge of his career, but insists that the team should not be castigated for their aggression – with the bat or, in his case, with the verbals – on the opening day in Ahmedabad.After winning the toss and choosing to bat first for the third time in the series, England were bowled out for 205 shortly after tea, with Stokes himself getting embroiled in a lively exchange of views with Mohammad Siraj and Virat Kohli en route to top-scoring with 55 from 121 balls.By the close, however, India were winning all the battles that mattered, having reduced the deficit to 181 for the loss of Shubman Gill, and are well placed to cement their 2-1 series lead and secure their place in this summer’s World Test Championship final.Speaking at the close to the host broadcaster, Siraj – who claimed two wickets on a brisk return to the team – told how Stokes had given him gaali (abuse) in the early stages of his innings, with Kohli also getting involved after he informed his captain of what was going on.However, both batsman and bowler played the exchange down afterwards, with Siraj stating that “these things happen”. Stokes meanwhile insisted that the sight of professional sportsmen getting stuck into an intense exchange should not be seen as a transgression.Virat Kohli and Ben Stokes exchange words during a staredown, while umpire Virender Sharma tries to keep the peace•Getty Images

“It was just two professionals showing that they care about a sport that they love,” he said. “A lot gets said these days when two guys seem to come to words out in the middle, but it was nothing untoward. We’re competitors going toe to toe, and no-one’s backing down. For me, that’s what it was, trying to get one over one another.”In the end, however, India were able to get one over England with a more conventional weapon. It is a measure of England’s struggles against the turning ball this winter that, having posted a match-winning 578 in their opening innings of the series in Chennai, today’s effort was their second-highest total in six subsequent attempts, and actually exceeded their match total of 193 at the same venue last week.But as Stokes admitted, the conditions on this opening day were far more manageable than they had been last week, and his own frustration at falling to Washington Sundar after a two-and-a-half-hour innings was matched by the team as a whole, after England had let slip another opportunity to make the running in the series.”We are more than capable of scoring 300 on a wicket like that so we’re frustrated but can’t dwell on it too much,” Stokes said. “We sit down as a group, and try to put it behind us, but it’s easier said than done.”It was pretty apparent we weren’t going to get anything like we did on day one in the last Test [when England were bowled out for 112],” he added. “It was the bounce that was more the issue than the turn, but overall it’s a much better wicket than it was last time we played here, so we’re disappointed not to still be batting.”Ben Stokes shapes to sweep•BCCI

Stokes himself has been in a lean run of form, with an aggressive 82 in the first Test giving way to a next-best score of 25 in five subsequent innings. In particular, he has been troubled by the spin of R Ashwin, who has dismissed him 11 times in Tests to date, and though he avoided that fate for a change today, he still departed in a very similar manner, as Sundar slid one into his front pad from round the wicket to end his promising stand with Ollie Pope.”Fifties are never going to win you a Test match, so I’m very disappointed to get in on that wicket, start feeling comfortable with it and get out again,” Stokes said. “Especially after spending two-and-a-half hours protecting myself from the ball that skids on, I ended up getting out to the ball that skids on, so it was very frustrating.”Nevertheless, Stokes was adamant that England would not be apportioning any blame for their latest batting shortcomings, and insisted that the team’s major goal at this stage of a tough tour was to absorb the lessons being handed out by a well-drilled India bowling attack, and be ready to perform better the next time they arise.”I’ve played 70-odd games now and these are the hardest conditions I’ve faced as a batsman,” he said. “It’s a case of finding it in your own way. It’s not about coming together and saying what we need to do better as a group, but how can we go away as individuals and progress when we come back next time.”Everyone plays in a different way, I have a gameplan out here that is completely different to Joe Root’s, which is different to Dom Sibley’s, and if the outcome of those gameplans is that we score runs, then happy days.”Related

• As it happened – India vs England, 4th Test, Ahmedabad, 2nd day

• Axar Patel, R Ashwin combine again to undo England's batting graft

• Jofra Archer ruled out of fourth Test by elbow injury

• As it happened – India vs England, 4th Test, 1st day

It wasn’t such happy days on this occasion, however. Sibley set the tone for another substandard innings as Axar Patel bowled him with a slider in his opening over of the day, while his fellow opener, Zak Crawley – whose fluent fifty on the first day of the last Test had been one of England’s few positives – tried to take the aerial route to the same bowler, and holed out in the covers.”It’s such a fickle sport, cricket, it’s why we love it,” Stokes said. “It’s such a leveller. If Zak had put that into Row Z, everyone would have said what a great shot because the outcome would have been a six, but unfortunately on this occasion he hit it straight up in the air. But that happens.”As batsmen you have to take risks to score runs. That’s how Zak chose to go about it today, and you can’t hold that against him, because he had the backing of the whole dressing room. Just because he’s hit one up in the air early on, are we going to pull him into the room and say never run down the wicket again? No.”Stokes did, however, have some words of encouragement for Dan Lawrence, one of the few relative success stories of England’s innings, after he made 46 from an unfamiliar role at No.7, albeit he too departed with one rash stroke too many, a wild swing at Patel and an easy stumping for Rishabh Pant.”When Spoons [Chris Silverwood] told him [he was batting at No.7], he was like, ‘I don’t care where I’m batting, I’m playing’,” Stokes said. “To have that attitude and keenness at a young age, just to want to play in an alien position, is such a good trait to have, and it was refreshing seeing him go out and stick to the way he’s got into the team. He’ll be disappointed with the runs he’s got so far, but we’ve seen a small glimpse of what he can offer.”

Cape Town Blitz beat the Stars for second time in a week to leave defending champions rock bottom

The Report by Firdose Moonda14-Nov-2019It was third time unlucky for the defending champions, Jozi Stars, who were defeated by Cape Town Blitz for the second time in this edition of the tournament. After faltering in chase of 214 against the Blitz in the opener last Friday and falling 24 runs short of 168 against the Nelson Mandela Bay Giants midweek, the Stars’ fortunes did not change and they were unable to hunt 184 under lights at Newlands. Despite a gusty 62 from captain Temba Bavuma, Stars remain at the bottom of the points table and have a mountain to climb to reach the playoffs. Blitz are up to second place.Introducing Coetzee He turned 19 just six weeks ago, is third on the first-class bowling charts and has now announced himself as the next big thing in South African cricket. Gerald Coetzee, who was schooled at St Andrews in Bloemfontein (the alma mater of cycling champion Chris Froome), made a big impression on his MSL debut by bouncing out the Blitz opening pair in his first spell. He had Janneman Malan caught at mid-off attempting a pull and Quinton de Kock caught behind off the top-edge. Coetzee had figures of 2 for 11 from his first two overs and if his night had ended there, he could have asked for nothing more. But, his next two overs, which included the final one of the innings, cost 31. Still, his overall analysis belies the early impact he made and in the gloom that is South African cricket at the moment, he is one to watch.Living the good life On arrival in Cape Town, Liam Livingstone spoke about his goals to go big in this tournament but with scores of 21 and 5, he wasn’t doing that in the first two matches. Livingstone put that right in this innings with a blistering 65 off 41 balls, which started when he attacked the Stars spinners and then saw him take apart young Coetzee. He took liberties when he moved across his stumps to flick Coetzee over the wicketkeeper, first for four, then for six and then for four again. He also enjoyed Dan Christian’s slower-ball bouncers too and gave the Blitz a fulcrum around which to build their innings.Goodbye Gayle? Reputation may not be enough to keep Chris Gayle in the Jozi Stars XI after a third failing in as many matches. Unlike the previous two chases, where he got starts of 17 and 18 respectively, this time he inside-edged on to his stumps for a fifth-ball duck to put his team in trouble early on. After defending three balls he could have hit into gaps and almost being yorked and run-out off the same ball, Gayle was beaten for pace by Anrich Nortje, proving that even someone who was once thought invincible in this arena, is fallible.Welcome Wahab If Wahab Riaz was feeling a little weary from Pakistan’s T20 series loss to Australia, he certainly wassn’t showing it. Fresh off the flight, he ensured the Jozi chase was over before it had even really begun when he played his part in a double-strike that put the Stars all but out of the contest. Wahab was at mid-on when Reeza Hendricks sent a Steyn ball swirling into the wind and steadied himself in time to take the catch. He was asked to bowl the next over and after starting with a wide, had Rassie van der Dussen caught behind for a duck to leave the Stars 27 for 3 in the fifth over, with victory still 157 runs away.Linde’s luck is inRecent Test debutant George Linde had luck with his first ball when he had Dan Christian given out lbw trying to sweep. Replays showed the ball would have gone over the stumps but by then, the Jozi Stars were 65 for 5, with little hope of challenging further.

Peshawar kept their perfect run going in the Quaid-e-Azam trophy, while Mohammad Hafeez made a successful return to the competition after being overlooked for the international side

Danyal Rasool12-Sep-2018Plucky Peshawar make it two in twoDespite the tired, yet inescapable narrative of departments reigning supreme against regions in the Quaid-e-Azam trophy, Peshawar continue to defy the odds in the second round. Fresh from an upset victory in the first round against KRL, they put in another commanding performance as they took down another departmental powerhouse. This time it was HBL who fell victim to Peshawar, who cruised to a six-wicket victory.Peshawar’s start is all the more remarkable for a side completely devoid of big-name talent; the starting eleven does not have a single Test cap. Indeed, there’s only one international cap amongst the eleven, awarded to Sahibzada Farhan, who played a solitary T20I earlier this year. He played a crucial role in the fourth innings, scoring 46 as he put on a century partnership with Ashfaq Ahmed, who was unbeaten on 68, as they chased down what could have been a tricky target of 159.Pitch standards under scrutiny againLast season’s Quaid-e-Azam trophy was replete with complaints of pitches that were not ready for first-class cricket, and it didn’t take too long to have the first two-day finish in the 2018 season. It came at the embattled Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad, the same venue that earned Imran Farhat’s ire and an accusation that a bug infestation there had sent more than half his team to the hospital.It was on the pitch, however, that batsmen struggled to stop the bleeding as wicket after wicket fell on the first day, and well before the second session was up, the home side had been skittled out for 88. In the circumstances, KRL put on a nearly impregnable 176 thanks to a half century by Usman Arshad, doubling the first innings score. Rawalpindi didn’t fare much better the second time around, and as their innings wrapped up for a sorry 118, KRL had only 31 runs to chase down to register their first points on the board. They did so without the loss of a wicket, and before half-time had been reached in this four-day game, it was time to go home.A giant awakes from its slumberTraditional giants SNGCP will have been disappointed with only a draw in the opening round, which saw them fail to get off the mark in terms of points. Wounded into action, they put on a fearsome display in this round, routing FATA by an innings and 52 runs. All the damage was done in the first innings, as Imran Butt and Iftikhar Ahmed scored 111 and 145 respectively to help their side amass 461. And while FATA were spirited in their response, Samiullah scoring a hundred of his own, it wasn’t enough to prevent his side conceding a 195-run lead to Mohammad Hafeez’s men.Hafeez, who was recently omitted from the squad for the Asia Cup that begins on Sunday, had promised he would not retire, and instead earn his place in the national side back through performances on the domestic circuit. He couldn’t have wished for a better start, as in the second innings he took six wickets for 62, helping bowl FATA out for 143 and earning his side an innings win.Butt stars in WAPDA winThere was a time 18 months ago when Salman Butt was on the verge of making a spectacular return to the international side. When the QeA began last year, it was still conceivable he could be called up, depending on how he performed. As it turned out, he had an underwhelming year, Imam-ul-Haq burst onto the scene, and Butt’s moment passed.While the chances of an international call-up look extremely bleak anytime soon, Butt has, to his credit, kept plugging away on the domestic circuit. As captain of WAPDA, he led from the front to help them bounce back from a first round loss against Karachi Whites, scoring 68 and 49 as they beat Multan by 7 wickets. He didn’t top-score in either innings though. Adnan Raees led the charge in the first innings with 91, while wicketkeeper-batsman Ali Shan played arguably the most important knock of the game in the fourth innings, his unbeaten 96 seeing WAPDA comfortably chase down a not inconsiderable target of 175.

Luke Ronchi returned to Edgbaston in style to help preserve Leicestershire’s unbroken record

ECB Reporters Network16-Jul-2017
ScorecardLuke Ronchi’s return to Edgbaston was painful for Birmingham•ICC

Leicestershire Foxes continued their 100 per cent start to the NatWestT20Blast campaign with a nine-run win over Birmingham Bears at Edgbaston.Put in, the Foxes raced to 50 in the fifth over thanks to Luke Ronchi’s 23-ball 46, but went on to total only 147 for 9. At 72 for one in the eighth over, they seemed set for a tall score but the last 12 overs brought 75 for 8.It was a modest total but one they defended with great skill, restricting the Bears to 138 for 8. Clint McKay, fresh from a Foxes T20-best 5 for 11 against Worcestershire Rapids on Friday, denied the Bears a flying start with two overs for 11 runs and then the pressure was maintained by Colin Ackermann (4-0-21-3) , Cameron Delport (3-0-14-1) and Mathew Pillans (4-0-23-1).Against a Bears bowling attack missing Rikki Clarke due to a bruised thumb, the Foxes were given a blistering start by Ronchi. The Black Caps star, who played for the Bears in last year’s Blast, smashed six fours and three sixes before another intended big hit, off Boyd Rankin, lobbed up to mid-wicket.Mark Cosgrove soon edged Grant Elliott’s fifth ball to wicketkeeper Tim Ambrose and the innings went into decline. Only Delport stayed long against an attack led by paceman Rankin, leg-spinner Josh Poysden and medium-pacer Elliott.Elliott’s second wicket arrived when Delport skied a catch and only Tom Wells and Pillans offered anything from the lower order.Colin Ackermann had missed out with the bat but soon struck twice with his off-spin when the Bears replied, having Ian Bell caught at short fine leg and Sam Hain taken at deep mid-wicket.When Tim Ambrose was stumped off Delport, Birmingham were 64 for 3 at the halfway stage, needing to find 84 from the second half of the innings.That was far from easy against Delport’s skilful slow-medium and the accurate Ackermann and, as the required rate rose, the pressure told. William Porterfield and Elliott charged and missed and were bowled by Callum Parkinson and Ackermann respectively.The Bears needed 44 from the last four overs and, after Colin de Grandhomme edged Pillans behind in the penultimate over, it came down to 16 off the last, delivered by McKay. The Foxes captain closed the game out with predictable efficiency.

Leicestershire Foxes have bolstered their batting ranks by snapping up big-hitting Cameron Delport for NatWest T20 Blast fixtures this summer

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Jun-2016Leicestershire Foxes have bolstered their batting ranks by snapping up big-hitting Cameron Delport for NatWest T20 Blast fixtures this summer.Delport, a South African-born left-hander, qualifies to play for Leicestershire as a non-overseas player. He has made 2,045 T20 runs in 88 innings at an average of 25.56 and strike rate of 135.70. Delport has also picked some useful wickets with his medium paced seamers, taking 23 at 27.56 with an economy rate of 7.65.He is well-known to Elite Performance Director Andrew McDonald following a spell at Sydney Thunder in 2015 and also played alongside Umar Akmal at Lahore Qalandars earlier this year.McDonald said: “Cameron has experience in most of the world’s top T20 competitions and his knowledge and skill will be valuable assets for us. He will give us another useful option in our batting roster and is also a good person who will contribute greatly to the changing room.”

Warwickshire are in total control at the halfway stage of their LV=County Championship tussle with neighbours Worcestershire as wickets continue to tumble at Edgbaston.

Press Association10-May-2015
ScorecardKeith Barker helped dismantle the Worcestershire innings•Getty Images

Warwickshire are in total control at the halfway stage of their LV=County Championship tussle with neighbours Worcestershire as wickets continue to tumble at Edgbaston.The home side reached the close on the second day at 105 for 2 in their second innings, 220 ahead overall – a commanding position in conditions which have helped bowlers throughout.Both seam attacks have exploited the conditions well but Warwickshire have taken the ascendancy not least because they selected four specialist seamers to the visitors’ three.Warwickshire’s pace quartet, led by Keith Barker and Chris Wright, all chipped in as Worcestershire, replying to 264, were bowled out for 149 in only 42.5 overs.Prolonged resistance came only from Ben Cox, who top-scored for the third successive innings for Worcestershire, and Tom Fell.Warwickshire captain Varun Chopra compiled an unbeaten 72 before the close and, with a lot of time left in the match and the weather set fair, Warwickshire are well-placed to record their first Championship win of the season.The only negative on their day came from an injury to 19-year-old Sam Hain who suffered a shoulder injury diving in the field. He will not bat again in this match and his injury will be assessed in the morning and then scanned later in the week to assess the extent of the damage.Resuming this morning on 258 for 8, Warwickshire added just six runs before Joe Leach collected another wicket to finished with a career-best 6 for 73. But Worcestershire then hit serious pre-lunch turbulence.Darryl Mitchell perished cruelly, run out backing up, before Wright trapped Moeen Ali lbw and had Richard Oliver caught at backward point and Barker yorked Alex Gidman and forced Alex Kerveezee to edge to third slip.In the afternoon, Cox added 44 with Fell and 39 with Jack Leach to see Worcestershire past the follow-on figure but after Clarke removed the former, the last four wickets fell for 17 runs in eight overs.With a whopping 46-over final session, and then two more days, ahead of them, Warwickshire could afford to take their time and William Porterfield, in particular, certainly did. After Ian Westwood edged Jack Shantry behind, the Ireland captain took 30 balls to get off the mark and crawled to four from 49 balls before perishing on the sweep to Sachithra Senanayake.But Chopra remain firmly-rooted hitting seven boundaries with power to add.

The government has appointed Nazmul Hassan as the Bangladesh Cricket Board president

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Oct-2012The Bangladesh government has named Nazmul Hassan, a member of parliament, as the new president of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB). The appointment came a week after Mustafa Kamal was confirmed as the vice-president of the ICC, effectively ending his three-year tenure as the BCB president.Hassan is the son of Zillur Rahman, the president of Bangladesh. He is also the managing director of one of the country’s largest pharmaceutical companies and has been connected to cricket through Abahani, a Dhaka-based sports club, as the chairman of its cricket committee.The new president was selected according to the existing constitution, which states that the board president will be a government nominee. The board has submitted its amended constitution to the National Sports Council for approval and one of the major amendments is that the president will be elected and not picked by the government. The sports regulatory body in the country is yet to pass the amendment.Hassan will have his hands full when he begins his tenure, with a number of major issues remaining unresolved. He will have to handle the umpires’ corruption investigation and ensure the franchises who have already signed with the BCB to run first-class teams are given a separate tournament. He would also need to finalise a long-term broadcasting rights contract, as only a single-series deal has been put in place.

An all-round effort from Mahmudullah helped Bangladesh A hand Bangladesh Cricket Board Academy their second defeat in the Bangladesh Cricket Board Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Sep-2011
ScorecardBangladesh allrounder Mahmudullah turned in a fine allround performance as Bangladesh A handed Bangladesh Cricket Board Academy (BCBA) their second straight defeat at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, this one by 56 runs. BCBA were bowled out for 76 against Bangladesh in their first game, and while their batsmen performed better this time around, it wasn’t enough to prevent another loss.Having chosen to field, BCBA’s bowlers made a bright start, reducing Bangladesh A to 48 for 3 in the 15th over. Mahmudullah then steadied the innings with 54 from 69 balls to ease them out of trouble. He shared in two partnerships of over 40 with Naeem Islam (17) and Shamshur Rahman (18) and after he fell on 160, the lower order carried the team past 200. Three other batsmen got into the 20s, but none could carry on, with Elias Sunny, who made 25, the second highest scorer. Alauddin Babu was the most successful bowler, taking 3 for 51, while Sohag Gazi took 2 for 29.BCBA made a positive start to their chase, despite losing Abdul Mazid early, but slumped from 52 for 1 in the 14th over to 60 for 4 in the 17th over. They were never in the game after that, losing wickets are regular intervals, and Mahmudullah knocked over the last two batsmen to finish with figures of 2 for 21 and earn the Man-of-the-Match award.

Glamorgan’s bid to win promotion to Division One of the County Championship will go down to the final day of the season

15-Sep-2010
Scorecard
Glamorgan’s bid to win promotion to Division One of the County Championship will go down to the final day of the season. The Welsh county will hope they can play out a draw against Derbyshire at Cardiff, and that Worcestershire, nine points behind Glamorgan at the start of
the final round of matches, do not beat Sussex at New Road.Glamorgan finished the third day 68 runs adrift after Derbyshire made 234 for 8 in their first innings in reply to the home side’s 166 all out. After 151 overs were lost on days one and two because of rain, Glamorgan resumed the third morning on 120 for 6.James Allenby, who passed 50 for the 11th time this season, and James Harris (36) took the score to 154, having put on 88 for the seventh wicket. But Glamorgan lost the prolific Allenby when he was bowled by a full-length delivery by Jon Clare before their remaining wickets fell in the space of seven overs.Left-arm spinner Robin Peterson claimed his 50th first-class victim of the season by bowling Robert Croft before Harris was trapped leg before. Huw Waters became the last man to fall when he was caught by Chris Rogers at slip off Peterson.Harris struck with the fifth ball of the Derbyshire first innings when he trapped Wayne Madsen lbw but Chris Rogers and the impressive Chesney Hughes guided the visiting side through until lunch. Hughes, who had a lifeline on 13 when he was dropped from a sharp chance by
Gareth Rees at short leg from Croft’s bowling, was eventually bowled by Jamie Dalrymple to leave Derbyshire on 42 for 2.Rogers and Wes Durston put on 56 for the third wicket. Their stand was broken when Croft struck to trap Rogers lbw for 33 to give Glamorgan their first bonus point of the match.Harris returned to claim his 60th wicket of the summer to dismiss Durston for 46 as the visitors were reduced to 116 for 4. That became 126 for 5 when Dan Redfern was caught down the leg side by wicketkeeper Mark Wallace off Dean Cosker.After tea, which Derbyshire reached at 127 for 5, Cosker picked up his second wicket when Robin Peterson edged to Allenby at slip. Captain Greg Smith and Clare put on 45 for the seventh wicket before Harris took a wicket in the first over of his spell for the third time when Smith was
caught by Ben Wright at point.Clare was dismissed for 24 when he was bowled by Cosker. But there were no more scares for Derbyshire as the eighth-wicket pair – Steffan Jones and Tom Poynton – added 45 runs for the ninth wicket by the close.

Nazmul Hassan, BCB president, hasn’t yet made a big statement without backing it with facts. His assertion on the significance of the next three months for Bangladesh, as a result, holds a lot of meaning.He claims to have crossed the first of many hurdles by convincing Sri Lanka and Pakistan of taking a positive view of their visits to Bangladesh. But most poignantly, he believes that despite their efforts of persuasion, one small incident stands to destroy Bangladesh cricket.There are obviously two ways to view this statement. The easy route would be to call him unconvinced of Bangladesh’s security situation – him of all people giving a negative view of what might happen. There won’t be many to blame him. While the political violence has been brought under some control over the past few days, there are no visible guarantees of calm.A major security assessment will take place later this month when the participating teams of the World Twenty20 will send their security representatives to Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet. They arrive on January 20, a week after a two-member security committee of Sri Lanka Cricket will conduct an assessment of their own and deduce whether the Sri Lanka tour will be played in the three venues or not.There is some trepidation of the political situation in Bangladesh when the security team visits, but, as Hassan said on Friday, it is not entirely up to the BCB to keep Bangladesh safe.He has called on the entire country to be involved in keeping players and the general environment safe. The BCB may have the strongest security force at their disposal but it will be up to the political parties to ensure a violence-free Bangladesh till at least April 6, when the World Twenty20 final is scheduled to be held in Mirpur.”We know why the West Indies Under-19 team left in the middle of their tour,” Hassan said. “It is because a cocktail exploded near their hotel. If such a thing happens again, it will be all over for Bangladesh. The impact of such an incident in the coming months would be even worse. The BCB cannot control every road and hotel in Bangladesh. It is quite a big country. We cannot stop someone from exploding a cocktail.”For now, we have done our part but now it is up to the political parties, the government, media and the general public who have to take up the responsibility. We have discussed yesterday how this is the biggest World Cup ever, with 26 teams participating. There are so many tournaments lined up, which in itself is a first-time occurrence. This is a very important time for Bangladesh. If a small incident occurs causing teams to avoid playing here, we will be set back by 15-20 years and destroy our cricket.”At one point during the last few months, Hassan believed that the cricket events would all be shelved: “I basically think that we have done what we needed to do till now. We needed to make them understand that they should come here to play. This was our major challenge.”To be honest, the situation was so bad here that there was a possibility of them not coming. We will contact the political parties regularly, so that we can work with everyone’s cooperation,”The link between the three events is crucial for the BCB. They had to confirm Sri Lanka to ensure a sense of safety for the Asia Cup, and they expect to host the World Twenty20 if they can host the preceding two events incident-free. But convincing Pakistan seems to be another matter, which Hassan claims has been completed.”If the Asia Cup isn’t held here, the World Twenty20 wouldn’t take place,” Hassan said. “If Sri Lanka didn’t come here, there was a big chance for the Asia Cup to be moved. All of these tournaments are connected. The biggest challenge was Asia Cup because Pakistan had an objection.”They asked me if we can give them additional security. I told them that we will give all the teams the topmost security. If your security personnel ask us to increase the security, we will provide that. Until yesterday their appearance in Bangladesh was uncertain. After talking to them in Dubai, it seems they will try to come.”PCB chief Najam Sethi’s statement also suggests a move forward rather than stalling and not a complete refusal to visit, which was expected in some quarters in Bangladesh.”BCB has given a formal statement saying the Pakistan team will be provided whatever additional or special security it asked for over and above those for other teams,” Sethi told AFP. “We are sending our top security official to Bangladesh to attend an ICC security meeting in January and to review security plans.”There are many hurdles for the BCB. The SLC security team will be the first to enunciate whether an international team can play in Bangladesh in this political climate. They could force the BCB into making concessions but the fans realise that by not seeing international matches in their cities, it is the price to pay for the current situation in the country.