Bangladesh are unlikely to tour Pakistan monthin January because of security concerns, despite making a commitment to do so at an International Cricket Council meeting in October.
On 21 December the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman, Zaka Ashraf, said that the Bangladesh Cricket Board had confirmed a visit in January, which would have made them the first international side to tour Pakistan since armed militants attacked the Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore in 2009.
Eight Pakistanis were killed and six members of the Sri Lanka squad were wounded when gunmen fired on their coach as they were being driven to a stadium in Lahore.
"We have made a commitment to travel to Pakistan. But still there are some concerns," said the Bangladesh board president, Nazmul Hasan, on Monday.
"We have noticed the security situation in Pakistan has not improved significantly, rather deteriorated. In this circumstance we think it will not be very wise to tour. We have conveyed our decision to Pakistan already. We are observing the situation. If it improves we will keep our commitment."
Nazmul added that it was a very difficult decision for them to make. "We have made a commitment to travel to Pakistan. It was even in the minutes of an ICC meeting that we will go even if it does not provide the match officials," he said.
"So it was almost mandatory for us. But we believe that the security of players and officials are the most important thing."
Bangladesh had agreed to send a team to Pakistan to play a Twenty20 match and one-day international in Lahore last April but the Dhaka High Court issued a restraining order stopping Bangladesh from playing in Pakistan due to security concerns.
The BCB president added that they were ready to face possible repercussions from Pakistan, who are determined to bring international cricket back to the country.
"We are aware that Pakistan will not be happy with our decision. They might not send players in our domestic cricket, may not cooperate with us in many other fields and we have to accept it," he said.
Afzalur Rahman Sinha, a BCB member and chairman of the Bangladesh Premier League governing council, said the Twenty20 tournament would go ahead even if Pakistan does not allow its players to take part.
More than 50 Pakistani players were auctioned for the second edition of the league in December but media reports suggested Pakistan would not allow its players to take part unless Bangladesh decided to tour.
"We believe no one is indispensable. The tournament will go ahead if even if Pakistani players don't come," he said
The Pakistan Cricket Board has yet to receive official confirmation that the tour has been cancelled but is unhappy with the reasons Nazmul has given for calling things off.
A PCB spokesman said that the atmosphere in Pakistan was "congenial" for visiting international teams.
"Although no official intimation has so far been received by PCB from BCB regarding this, and the decision to tour Pakistan is the sole prerogative of BCB, however, it is inappropriate to call the security situation in Pakistan as the main reason behind this decision," read a statement.
"A lot of cricket related activity in which many international players have participated in matches held at Karachi and Rawalpindi has recently taken place in Pakistan successfully and without any security issue whatsoever, which in itself reflects that the atmosphere in Pakistan is congenial for any international team visit to the country."
The statement added: "Moreover, a team of BCB and Bangladesh government jointly visited Pakistan to ascertain the security situation and they left fully satisfied on the subject.
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