Bangladesh all-rounder Rishad Hossain has blasted the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), following the postponement of the Pakistan Super League (PSL). Amid escalating political tensions between Pakistan and India, the PCB decided to indefinitely postpone the PSL on Friday. The PCB initially tried to relocate the games to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), but there request was rejected by the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB). Rishad, who was playing for Lahore Qalandars, has blasted the PCB for how they handled the evacuation of overseas players.
Rishad accused the PCB for lack of transperancy, revealing that the board tried to hide details of drone attacks. Rishad also revealed that the PCB initially planned to hold the remaining PSL matches in Karachi, but reversed it after players expressed their safety concerns with PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi.
"The meeting was basically called to know our concerns, what we think about the current scenario. Almost all the foreign players said that the only safe place available for the later part of the tournament is Dubai. Yes, the PCB chair tried to convince us to conduct the remaining matches in Karachi. At that time, he tried to hide from us that there were two drone attacks just the day before, which we came to know later. Later all of us took the decision (to shift to Dubai), and the PCB Chairman helped us a lot to reach Dubai safely by the grace of god. Thanks to him and the Pakistan Cricket Board," he revealed.
Rishad recalled the difficulties faced by overseas players, saying, "Thank god, we have reached Dubai after overcoming a crisis, and I am feeling well now. After landing in Dubai when we heard that a missile struck the airport 20 minutes after we took off from the airport. The news was scary as well as sorrowful, and now, after reaching Dubai we are feeling relieved."
"Whenever I go out to play, my family worries for me whether the situation is good or not and now when they heard the news about Pakistan - the bomb-blasts and the missile-strikes here and there - naturally they were in tension. I personally tried to console them and tell them not to worry about me and they were quite normal," he said, as per a Cricbuzz report quoted by Wisden.
Rishad went on to reveal that his Bangladeshi teammate Nahid Rana, who was playing for Peshawar Zalmi, was shaken by the events.
"Nahid Rana was very quiet, maybe for the tension, as I understood. I kept telling him not to be tense and hopefully nothing would happen to us. Thank god, we reached Dubai safely," Rishad said.
(With ANI Inputs)