Bangladesh tearaway Nahid Rana is among the three members to withdraw from their upcoming tour of Pakistan, which is set to kick off next week at Lahore’s iconic Gaddafi Stadium. According to the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s (BCB) cricket operations chairman, Nazmul Abedeen Fahim, there is a possibility that Nahid could have withdrawn from the squad, considering the difficult situation he faced when trying to leave Pakistan earlier this month due to the cross-border tensions between India and Pakistan.

Nahid was a part of Peshawar Zalmi’s squad when the players had to be withdrawn from the Pakistan Super League. Nahid’s national teammate, Rishad Hossain, was also a part of Zalmi’s squad, but he is touring with Bangladesh.

Fahim revealed that most of the players were hesitant to tour Pakistan but changed their minds after most of the Bangladesh players decided to embark on the three-match T20I series.

“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 Which is probably why Rana has withdrawn from the tour.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, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.

“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.

According to Fahim, Pakistan provides high security during cricketing tours and said, “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.”

Bangladesh’s tour will feature three T20Is, reduced from the initial five-match affair. The series will kick off on May 28, the second will be played on May 30 and run through to June 1.