TDS Desk:

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) officials said on Thursday that they have sent a letter to Bangladesh Army Chief of Staff General Waker-Uz-Zaman regarding security assurance as they are eyeing to host the forthcoming ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, scheduled in Bangladesh from October.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has been closely monitoring the situation in Bangladesh while they are also looking for alternative venues to host the tournament as the country went through a blood bath during the last couple of days that forced the government to impose an emergency to control the affairs of the state following killings and protests on the streets.

Army took over power after the then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled from the country on 5 August while on Thursday (8 August) Army handed over the power to Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus as he became the chief adviser to the interim government.

Several board directors as well as BCB boss Nazmul Hasan also fled from the country following the fall of Hasina but umpire committee chairman Iftekhar Mithu told that on Thursday that they are yet to lose all their hope as far as hosting the Women’s T20 World Cup is concerned.

“We are trying to host the tournament. To be honest there are not too many among us present in the country and today we have sent a letter to the Army chief regarding assurance about the security as we have only two months in hand.”

“ICC communicated with us two days back and we replied that we will come back to them shortly. Today after the government (interim) government is formed still we have to give them assurance of the security considering it cannot be given by the board or any anyone else apart from law enforcement agency and so we sent the letter today and after getting written assurance from them( Army) we will inform the ICC,” he added.

Ten teams are scheduled to play 23 matches, over 18 days, at two venues in Bangladesh, the Sher-e- Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka and the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium in Sylhet from 3 to 20 October.

If the tournament is eventually shifted from Bangladesh due to the crisis in the country, in that case ICC may opt for a country in the same time zone as Bangladesh. India, UAE and Sri Lanka fit the requirement as alternatives.