Members of Bangladesh coaching staff opt out of Pakistan tour

London [UK], Jan 18 (ANI): Five members of Bangladesh's coaching staff will not be accompanying the side for the first leg of their tour to Pakistan, BCB's cricket operations chairman Akram Khan confirmed.
Former South African player Neil McKenzie, who is the batting coach of Bangladesh, has opted out of the tour along with fielding coach Ryan Cook.
The board has also preferred not to avail services of Daniel Vettori as the spin consultant for the upcoming series against Pakistan.
"Strength and conditioning coach Mario [Villavarayan broke his hand recently while team analyst Chandrasekaran will be working with the team over Skype. McKenzie and fielding coach Cook will also not be going, while we haven't yet confirmed on our new bowling coach," ESPN Cricinfo quoted Akram as saying.
Head coach Russell Domingo will only have physio Julian Calefato among the regular staff while Sohel Islam (fielding coach) and Tushar Kanti Howlader (strength and conditioning coach) will act as support staff.
Bangladesh will play three T20Is, one ODI and two Test matches. The proposed T20Is series will be held in Lahore on January 23, 25 and 27.
The first Test will kick off from February 7 in Rawalpindi followed by one ODI match on April 3 in Karachi. The Final Test is slated for Karachi from April 5.
Last year, when Sri Lanka went to play the T20Is and ODIs in Pakistan, some players had opted out of the tour due to security reasons.
They were-- Lasith Malinga, Niroshan Dickwella, Kusal Janith Perera, Dhananjaya De Silva, Thisara Perera, Akila Dhananjaya, Angelo Mathews, Suranga Lakmal, Dinesh Chandimal and Dimuth Karunaratne.
In 2009, the Sri Lankan team was on their way to Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore for a Test match with Pakistan, when terrorists fired indiscriminately on their bus. That attack left eight people dead and injured seven Sri Lankan players and staff.
Since then, international cricket had eluded Pakistan with no high-profile team visiting the country for a full-length tour. (ANI)