So Bangladesh team is finally touring Pakistan—or is it? The news on this topic has been shifting back and forth so frequently, that it has been difficult to keep track. Late last year, when the proposal for this tour was first mooted, Bangladesh cricket authorities had warmed to the idea. But reservations from their top players gave them pause. The PCB countered with what it must have thought was a deft political carrot—endorsement of Mustafa Kamal, the Bangladesh cricket chief, for the vice-presidency of the ICC. That seemed to work for a while, until last week’s court ruling in Dhaka, which ordered Bangladesh’s cricketers to stay put.

All these twists have left Pakistani cricket followers horribly confused. As it is, the proposed tour had been watered down to a single ODI and a solitary T20 international, to be played on consecutive days in Lahore. This kind of skeleton itinerary doesn’t really comprise an international cricket series. If the idea was to boost confidence in Pakistan’s standing as an international host, then this plan was a non-starter. The impression that was generated was not so much of a tour, but of some hazardous expedition in which the overarching consideration was to avoid danger by zipping in and out quickly. Instead of minimising Pakistan’s security liabilities, this plan was only drawing greater attention to them.

In this whole scenario, PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf has come out looking rather naïve and misguided. To begin with, he should not have been pushing for restoration of international cricket to Pakistan at the present time. Peace must return to our country before international cricket does, and there is no peace yet. Terrorism and targeted crimes remain rampant. Have we forgotten what really happened in March 2009 that triggered the suspension of international cricket in Pakistan? A visiting Test side came within an inch of its life, at a spot that is mere walking distance from the PCB’s headquarters in Lahore.

Let’s be honest with ourselves: there has to be some fundamental change before the security perception surrounding Pakistan can improve. At a minimum, this requires a change of government. The present leadership in Islamabad, with its misplaced priorities and broken promises, has lost all credibility, both at home and abroad. Ashraf, a hand-picked appointee of the current political set-up, is tainted by extension. He can cry hoarse promising foolproof security, but in international cricket circles he is not going to be taken seriously.

It seems that Mustafa Kamal understood this well, and took advantage of Ashraf’s desperation to further his own personal aims. In effect, Kamal played a double game and has come out a winner. In exchange for promising to send his team to Pakistan, he extracted PCB’s endorsement nominating him to the vice-presidency of the ICC, which translates more or less into the ICC’s president-in-waiting. Once PCB’s support for Kamal was tabled and recorded at the recently held annual ICC meeting, the PCB ceased to hold any value or attraction for him.

The disappointing thing about Zaka Ashraf’s handling of this embarrassment is that he did not see it coming. He misjudged the value of the cards he held, and overestimated his influence and clout with the Bangladesh Cricket Board. He also appeared to disregard the hardnosed political reality that the Bangladesh government led by Sheikh Hasina Wajid is not a friend of Pakistan, and would never have looked at this tour favourably.

Bangladesh has now begun exploring alternate itineraries involving other teams (since the Dhaka court order, they have approached South Africa for a bilateral series). There is no longer any doubt that they have no interest in touring Pakistan. Yet in public statements, Ashraf and the PCB are still holding out hope, trying to put pressure on the Bangladesh board by asking them to appeal against the court order and furnish copies of the relevant documentation. This is silly. It makes the PCB look incompetent, insincere, or both.

One really has to question Ashraf’s intentions in trying to force such a moth-eaten tour in an adversarial security climate, and that too from a relatively low-profile team. Is he sincere to Pakistan cricket’s grand causes, or keen on self-promotion and publicity? His primary duty is to the core issues of Pakistan cricket—infrastructure around the team, meritorious selection, health of the domestic game, democratic cricket governance. The lack of international cricket at home is hardly harming our team, which is enjoying a rather rich vein of form, white-washing top-ranked England as well as lifting the Asia Cup. Ashraf must urgently reconsider his priorities.

To improve Pakistan’s security perception, a far more feasible project for the PCB is to organise a lucrative and glittering T20 Pakistan Premier League that is able to attract some of the game’s top players, including those from England, Australia, South Africa, and perhaps India. That will require a great deal more effort and skill, but it will also go a long, long way in enhancing Pakistan’s image as an international cricket destination. If Ashraf and the PCB are indeed sincere to Pakistan cricket, let us see them deliver on that front.