Wayne Parnell receives threatening phone call in Bangladesh

Parnell was leaving for the stadium when he got the call

It seems someone is not happy with the South African team being in Bangladesh. Wayne Parnell, the South African fast bowler, received an anonymous phone call in his room that allegedly threatened him.

According to ESPNcircinfo, Parnell told Bengali newspaper Kaler Kantho, “Soon after the incident, we informed the intelligence agencies, they have been trying to trace the caller and from where the call was made”.

It was also reported that South Africa’s team manager, Mohammed Mosajee, thought it was a prank call instead of a serious threat. Yet, he was concerned that the hotel put the call through to Parnell.

"Yes the call was put through to Wayne's room on the day of the T20 but we thought it was probably a prank or a hoax call, we didn't think too seriously of it. Our main concern was the hotel putting anonymous callers through to the players' rooms,” Mosajee said.

“Wayne followed the necessary security protocol by informing our security officer, who then took it up with the BCB officials. He (Wayne) didn't feel threatened at all, he was more concerned about anonymous phone calls being put through to his room."

Hossain Imam, Bangladesh Cricket Board’s security consultant, said that the above incident happened just as Parnell was leaving for the Shere Bangla Stadium.

It is not unusual for players to receive threatening calls before a match, but it is yet to be determined whether this was a hoax or a prank; or an actual threat. Proteas defeated the hosts in the first T20 match by 52 runs as Bangladesh failed to chase 149 runs target.