SECURITY CONCERNS HAVE prompted the Bangladesh Cricket Board to postpone their plans to become the first side to tour Pakistan since 2009.

Pakistan have not hosted an official international cricket tour since a terrorist attack on the Sri Lanka team bus in March 2009. Eight people were killed and seven members of the Sri Lanka touring squad injured during the incident in Lahore.

Bangladesh had been scheduled to play a Twenty20 international and a one-day international on January 12 and 13, but those plans have now been suspended.

“Bangladesh will not visit Pakistan for now. We’ve made the decision after considering the overall security situation in Pakistan and the concern that our people have expressed over the safety of their players,” Bangladesh Cricket Board chairman Nazmul Hassan said.

“We made a commitment to visit Pakistan and it’s almost mandatory for us to tour the country. But we believe safety of players and officials are of highest importance. It’s a national issue.

“We have noticed the security situation in Pakistan has not improved significantly, rather deteriorated.

“We’ve sent a letter to Pakistan three days ago explaining our position. We’ve decided to wait and see.”

A previous attempt by Bangladesh to tour Pakistan in April was blocked in the high court in Dhaka.

There are now concerns Pakistan will seek to prevent their players competing in the Bangladesh Premier League T20 tournament, due to begin on January 17.

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