KARACHI: A reasonable period of unfriendly cricket relations between Pakistan and Bangladesh seemed to mean nothing when an upbeat looking Nurul Hasan said Pakistan was a good place to play the game.

Nurul — who will lead the Bangladesh U-23 side against their Pakistani counterparts in the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Emerging Teams Cup opener here on Thursday — insisted the cricket boards of two nations enjoy a positive connection between them.

“We have good relations with the Pakistan Cricket Board as well as the Pakistani players and we are happy to be here,” said Nurul during a press conference at the National Stadium on Wednesday. “It’s a great place for cricket.”

The Bangladesh side, however, was given the green signal to tour Karachi only on Monday after Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan had expressed security concerns before giving the green signals.

Pakistan and Bangladesh along with Hong Kong and UAE are placed in Group ‘A’ with all six matches scheduled in Karachi with Southend Club staging the remaining three fixtures.

Meanwhile, India, Oman, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan will vie for the semi-finals from Group ‘B’ which is being staged in Colombo.

Pakistan captain Mohammad Rizwan, in a witty start to the press conference, said he was thankful to the teams who decided to visit Karachi as well as to the teams who did not.

“We are always happy to play cricket at home and it is necessary for the boys to have that experience,” said the wicket-keeper/batsman. “We would obviously prefer to play most of our international cricket here in Pakistan.”

After facing Bangladesh, Pakistan will take on minnows Hong Kong (Friday) and UAE (Sunday). However, Rizwan noted both the sides had a strength that needs to be considered.

“Hong Kong and UAE may not have top-class players but they have been consistently playing with a combination while we still have to work on it,” Rizwan commented.

Rizwan said the U-23 side is working in line with the instructions the Pakistan senior team head coach Mickey Arthur and he will try to ensure the players learn and prepare themselves for senior-level cricket.

“Me and Mickey always stay in contact and he keeps urging that a culture of fitness should be maintained and that fielding is the top priority,” said the 26-year-old who also led Pakistan ‘A’ in the recent series against New Zealand ‘A’ and England Lions in the UAE.

The Peshawar-born cricketer said the U-23 side was eager to make it to the semi-finals and hoped that they get to play arch-rivals India in Sri Lanka.

Pakistan play all their ties at the National Stadium, while the remaining matches will be played at the Southend Club with Bangladesh taking on Hong Kong on Friday and UAE playing the Dragons on Sunday.

The Hong Kong and UAE teams largely consist of players either having Pakistani roots or being born in the country. However, both team’s captains maintained that does not matter and they are here to represent their countries.

“I was born in Hong Kong and I have played all my cricket there only so technically I’m a local,” said Hong Kong captain Aizaz Khan, whose family belongs to Attock.

Aizaz said his team feels comfortable and secure in Pakistan and that they are here to build on their good recent performances.

“We did well in the Asia Cup and since we don’t get to play much cricket at the top level, the Emerging Teams Cup is a very good opportunity,” said the 25-year-old Aizaz.

UAE captain Rohan Mustafa, who hails from Kohat, also shrugged off any feel-good factor on returning to Pakistan to play cricket.

“I am here to purely represent the UAE since I have played all my cricket there only,” said the 30-year-old.

Published in Dawn, December 6th, 2018