LAHORE: Following reports that the Bangl­adesh Cricket Board (BCB) has reportedly sought the inclusion of a security consultant for its national team’s tour of Pakistan — which inclu­des two Test matches later this month — the latter’s cricket board has said that doing so is the right of any visiting side.

A spokesperson for the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) clarified that while it is within the Bangl­adesh Cricket Board’s rights to request such an addition, no formal security concerns have been raised by the Bangl­adesh Cricket Board thus far.

“Security managers or consultants are now standard members of player support teams, similar to media managers or team doctors,” the PCB official told Dawn on Thursday. “This practice is common in international cric­ket, as seen during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup and other bilateral series.

“If the Bangladesh Cric­ket Board chooses to incl­ude a security consultant for their upcoming tour, it is entirely their decision.

Ho­w­ever, the Bangl­adesh Cricket Board has not communicated any security issues to the PCB at this time.

“In accordance with inte­r­national protocols, the PCB provided the BCB with the security plan and Mem­orandum of Under­standing (MoU) last month, and there were no subsequent queries or additional requests.”

In a related development, the Bangladesh ‘A’ team is scheduled to arrive in Islamabad on August 5 to face the Pakistan Shahe­ens, and will not be accompanied by a security official.

The first Test match bet­ween Bangladesh and Paki­stan is set to begin in Rawalpindi on August 21, with the second Test match taking place in Karachi’s National Bank Stadium from August 30.

Published in Dawn, August 2nd, 2024