New Delhi: The Bangladesh team will not travel to India next month to play the ICC T20 World Cup.
The interim government’s Sports adviser Asif Nazrul said the decision to boycott the marquee event for security reasons was taken after a meeting on Thursday with the cricketers, Prothom Alo reported.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is expected to announce Scotland as Bangladesh’s replacement in the 20-team tournament, being co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had asked ICC to move its team’s matches from India to Sri Lanka, after Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman was dropped from the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) squad for IPL 2026.
BCB president Aminul Islam Bulbul told reporters that the idea is to still play the T20 World Cup.
“We will continue to communicate with the ICC. We want to play the World Cup, but we won’t play in India. We will keep fighting. There were some shocking calls at the ICC Board Meeting. The Mustafizur issue is not an isolated one. They (India) were the sole decision makers in that issue,” Aminul said.
“ICC had denied us our request to shift our matches away from India. We are not sure about the status of world cricket. Its popularity is going down. They have locked away 200 million people. Cricket is going to the Olympics, but if a country like us is not going there, it is the ICC’s failure,” he added.
Only the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had supported Bangladesh’s request for relocation of its team’s matches. “All other members voted against it. Bangladesh was given time till January 21 to confirm its participation but then they were given one more day by the ICC Board to state their position,” PTI reported on Wednesday citing an ICC source.
Bangladesh were scheduled to begin their campaign on the opening day itself, against the West Indies at Kolkata’s iconic Eden Gardens. Bangladesh were supposed to play two more matches at Kolkata, before the Litton Das-led side was slated to travel to Mumbai for their final group game against Nepal.
Under the changes scenario, ICC is likely to simply replace Bangladesh with Scotland, without changing the schedule.
What will be Pakistan’s stand?
All eyes are now on Pakistan to see if they continue to show solidarity with Bangladesh.
Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif urged the Pakistan board to boycott the T20 World Cup if Bangladesh’s demand was not met.
“If Pakistan versus India match doesn’t happen, 50 per cent of your World Cup is gone. This is a great opportunity to challenge the existing cricket order,” Latif said on the YouTube channel CaughtBehindShow.
“Pakistan should say they stand with Bangladesh and refuse to play the T20 World Cup. This is the time to take a stand. You need a strong heart to do it,” he added.
As per the fixtures announced by the ICC, Pakistan will play all their group league matches in Sri Lanka. Even if they qualify for the knockout rounds, Pakistan won’t travel to India.
