The Bangladesh Government’s sports advisor Asif Nazrul has said that the International Cricket Council (ICC) has not done justice to their demands of moving the team’s T20 World Cup 2026 matches to Sri Lanka from India.
“I think we did not get justice from ICC,” Asif told reporters following the meeting. “Whether we will play in the World Cup or not is entirely a government decision,” he said.
“I think nothing happened in India in the recent past that suggests things have changed there (security- wise),” he said. “We hope ICC will give us justice,” he added.
As things stand, Bangladesh will not be a part of the marquee event scheduled to be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.
“We will go back to the ICC with our plan to play in Sri Lanka. They did give us a 24-hour ultimatum, but a global body can’t really do that. ICC will miss out on 200 million people watching the World Cup. It will be their loss … ICC is calling Sri Lanka co-hosts. They are not co-hosts. It is a hybrid model. Some of the things I heard in the ICC meeting were shocking,” BCB president Aminul Islam said.
According to ICC’s schedule for T20 World Cup 2026, Bangladesh will play their first three Group C matches against West Indies, Italy and England on February 7, 9 and 14, respectively, at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, whereas their last Group C match against Nepal is scheduled at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on February 17.
Earlier, BCB had informed ICC that the team won’t travel to India for the T20 World Cup 2026 citing security concerns.
“An emergency meeting of the Board of Directors of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) was held this afternoon to discuss recent developments related to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, scheduled to be hosted by India and Sri Lanka. The Board reviewed the situation in detail, taking into account developments over the last 24 hours and expressed deep concern over the overall circumstances surrounding the participation of the Bangladesh National Team in matches scheduled to be played in India,” the BCB said in a statement.
“Following a thorough assessment of the prevailing situation and the growing concerns regarding the safety and security of the Bangladesh contingent in India and considering the advice from the Bangladesh Government, the Board of Directors resolved that the Bangladesh National Team will not travel to India for the tournament under the current conditions.”
“In light of this decision, the BCB has formally requested the International Cricket Council (ICC), as the event authority, to consider relocating all of Bangladesh’s matches to a venue outside India. The Board believes that such a step is necessary to safeguard the safety and well-being of Bangladeshi players, team officials, Board members and other stakeholders and to ensure that the team can participate in the tournament in a secure and appropriate environment. The Bangladesh Cricket Board looks forward to the ICC’s understanding of the situation and an urgent response on this matter,” it further added.
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