India men’s cricket tour of Bangladesh, scheduled for August, is set to be suspended for the foreseeable future. The series was supposed to see three ODIs and three T20Is between August 17 and 31, but will not go ahead as planned.
Sources say that security concerns amid the domestic unrest in Bangladesh are the primary factor for the derailment. The fall of the Sheikh Hasina government, among other things, has triggered one of the biggest diplomatic stand-offs in the region, souring the relationship between the neighbors.
A statement is expected to come jointly from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB).
Indian broadcasters are said to have been informed that the series won’t happen, whereas an Invitation To Tender (ITT) hasn’t been made available either. The BCB is hopeful of organising a postponed series, but a statement from the BCCI confirming the current status is expected in the coming week.
In the purely cricketing world, this would mean a delay in Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s return to the competitive field, considering they only play ODIs now. However, India and Bangladesh will probably still clash with each other in September under the Asia Cup, which at the moment seems likely to go ahead.
