Bangladesh Cricket Board defends pacer Rana pulling out of Pakistan tour: 'Can't blame them for being traumatised'

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) cricket operations chairman Nazmul Abedeen Fahim has come in support of pacer Nahid Rana after he pulled out of the upcoming tour of Pakistan . Rana wasn’t the only player to withdraw from the Pakistan tour, but he is the only one who was part of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2025.

Rana, 22, was part of Peshawar Zalmi in PSL 2025 when the players had to be abruptly evacuated out of the country due to the India-Pakistan conflict. The players were evacuated to Dubai first from a military base in Rawalpindi, which was later hit by a missile as the Indian Army retaliated against attacks from their neighbours.

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Besides Rana, Rishad Hossain is also part of the PSL 2025 and recently returned to Lahore Qalandars for the playoffs. Hossain is also a part of the Bangladesh squad for the T20I series in Pakistan. But Rana has decided to withdraw.

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Bangladesh’s fielding coach James Pamment and strength and conditioning coach Nathan Keily have also withdrawn.

BCB supports Rana in his decision

BCB cricket operations chairman Fahim told ESPNCricinfo that the trauma of the conflict could have forced Rana towards taking the decision to withdraw from the Pakistan tour. He also supported the pacer’s decision.

“What Nahid Rana and Rishad faced recently, you can’t blame them for being traumatised. Which is probably why Rana has withdrawn from the tour. Among the coaching staff, James [Pamment] and Nathan [Keily], who are our fielding coach and trainer, aren’t going. The rest are ready to go there,” Fahim said.

Fahim revealed that a few more players were uncomfortable with the tour but later agreed after the majority decided to go ahead with the scheduled plan. “There were hesitations among few other players. But later, when they saw others are going, they felt that it might not be difficult to go there and they changed their initial position,” he added.

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Fahim added that Pakistan will be providing high security to the Bangladesh cricket team. “I saw during the Champions Trophy how much security is provided in Pakistan. I don’t think you can do more than that. The PCB chairman (Mohsin Naqvi) assured us to give the highest security,” he said.

Bangladesh was scheduled to tour Pakistan for a five-match T20I series, but it has now been reduced to three games. All three matches will be held in Lahore on 28, 30 and 31 May.