Bangladesh does not want to play its scheduled four group-stage games in India and has written to the International Cricket Council (ICC) twice about it. While there has been no official reply from the ICC, Asif Nazrul (Bangladesh government sports advisor), known for his hardline stance against India, has claimed that the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has received a letter from the ICC’s security team.
Following is what Nazrul said in a press conference on Monday:
“We are yet to receive any reply to the two letters sent to ICC. Also, in the meantime, the ICC security team, those in charge of security, have given a letter to the BCB. In that letter, it is said that if three things happen, the security threat to the Bangladesh team will increase:
If Mustafiz is included in the Bangladesh team.
If the supporters of the Bangladesh team roam around wearing the national jersey of Bangladesh, which is our national jersey.
As the national elections are forthcoming, the security threat to the Bangladesh team will increase.
“This statement by the ICC security team has proven that Bangladesh is in no position to play the T20 World Cup in India.”
The ICC is yet to confirm or deny the existence of the letter from its security team.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) will respond to the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s (BCB) request to shift the national side’s T20 World Cup 2026 matches from India between Monday and Tuesday this week, sources told NDTV.
The BCB cited “security concerns” to file an official request with the ICC to shift their games from India to Sri Lanka. The request was made after Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman was released by IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders on the suggestion of the BCCI. However, the ICC is unlikely to accept BCB’s request and instead suggested Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram as alternate venues. Bangladesh are currently scheduled to play their group-stage games in Kolkata and Mumbai.
Earlier, Bangladesh rejected Chennai as one of the options, with BCB president Aminul Islam stating that it may be accepted by their government.
“Since you know that we are not taking decisions alone regarding this World Cup, we will discuss it with the government and we are still where we stood,” he told reporters in Sylhet.
The Bangladesh government also expects direct communication from the Indian government regarding the security concerns over the upcoming T20 World Cup.