ICC asks Bangladesh to reconsider to play T20 World Cup in India, BCB remains hell-bent

Bangladesh Cricket Board and the International Cricket Council held a meeting on Tuesday, January 13, discussing the Board's stance on not playing the upcoming T20 World Cup 2026 by travelling to India, amid the ongoing geopolitical and communal disputes between the two nations.

President Md Aminul Islam, Vice Presidents Md Shakawath Hossain and Faruque Ahmed, Director and Chairman of the Cricket Operations Committee Nazmul Abedeen, and Chief Executive Officer Nizam Uddin Chowdhury attended the meeting on BCB's behalf via a video-conference held during the afternoon hours. All the members unanimously stated that they won't make a compromise and travel to India to play. 

The ICC, however, has rejected Bangladesh's request citing that all the necessary arrangements, including the complete itinerary for the 20-team tournament has been made, and making any last-minute changes may not be feasible. The ICC, chaired by Jay Shah, further asked the BCB to rethink about their stance and travel to play, since the chances of allocating matches to Sri Lanka or anywhere else look very bleak.

Meanwhile, Aminul Islam, the board president, has reaffirmed the stance by iterating that Bangladesh is least interested in playing in India, since the security of the players is at risk. Aminul further said that if the demand is not met by the ICC, the elections back home may have to be postponed, a reason that seems unjustified.

“If the ICC expects us to make a cricket team without our best bowler, our supporters will not be able to wear the country's jersey and we'll postpone the national election to play cricket there can be no more bizarre, unrealistic and unreasonable expectation than that,” Aminul was quoted as saying by Awaz.

“We believe that no one should have a monopoly on the game of cricket. The fate of a game cannot be determined based on market management. If the ICC is truly a global organization, then it should give us the opportunity to play in the T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka. We'll not accept any concession in this regard," Aminul added.