Web Desk: Bangladesh on Thursday reiterated their refusal to play T20 matches in India at next month’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, insisting instead on relocating their fixtures to Sri Lanka despite warnings that the move could cost them a place in the tournament.
The stance follows a high-level meeting in Dhaka involving Sports Adviser Asif Nazrul, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) President Aminul Islam, Chief Executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury and several senior national players. The talks came a day after the International Cricket Council (ICC) issued a 24-hour deadline for Bangladesh to confirm participation under the existing schedule.
Aminul said the board would formally return to the ICC with a proposal to stage Bangladesh’s matches in Sri Lanka, which is co-hosting the event.
“We will approach the ICC again with our plan,” Aminul told reporters. “They may have given us a deadline, but a global body cannot dictate terms like that. Excluding Bangladesh would mean losing a massive audience. That would be their loss.”
Nazrul confirmed that the refusal to travel to India was a government decision, not merely a sporting one.
“We remain hopeful the ICC will allow us to play in Sri Lanka,” he said. “The government has decided that the team will not travel to India.”
Several national players, including Nurul Hasan, Shamim Hossain, Hasan Mahmud, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Jaker Ali, Tanzid Hasan and Saif Hassan, attended the meeting, underlining the team’s unified position.
Bangladesh have been drawn in Group C alongside England, West Indies, Italy and Nepal. Under the current schedule, they are set to play three matches in Kolkata and one in Mumbai, beginning with a tournament-opening clash against West Indies on February 7.
However, the ICC on Wednesday formally rejected Bangladesh’s request to move matches to Sri Lanka, citing security assessments and tournament logistics. The governing body asked the BCB to consult its government and respond within 24 hours.
The dispute has its roots in worsening political relations between India and Bangladesh, which have increasingly spilled into cricketing affairs.
Concerns escalated earlier this month when the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) instructed IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders to release Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman from their 2026 squad. While no official explanation was given, the move coincided with diplomatic strains between the neighbours.
On January 4, following consultations with the government, the BCB informed the ICC that the national team would not travel to India for World Cup matches due to safety concerns. That position has remained unchanged despite multiple discussions with the global body.
The ICC has rejected attempts to link Bangladesh’s participation to Mustafizur’s IPL situation, describing it as irrelevant to World Cup security arrangements.
In a statement to the BCB, the ICC said Bangladesh was “repeatedly linking participation in the tournament to a single, isolated and unrelated development involving a domestic league,” adding that the issue had no impact on the tournament’s security framework or participation conditions.
Meanwhile, the standoff could have wider consequences. Sources told Geo News that Pakistan is considering boycotting the tournament if Bangladesh withdraws and the ICC refuses to accommodate Dhaka’s demand.
According to the sources, Pakistan may step away from the event should the dispute remain unresolved, raising the prospect of a broader regional crisis for the ICC just weeks before the tournament begins.
Bangladesh has also taken retaliatory steps at home, including banning broadcasts of the Indian Premier League, further highlighting how diplomatic tensions have deepened the cricketing rift.
With the opening match less than a month away, the ICC now faces mounting pressure to prevent a major disruption to one of its flagship events.
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