Nasser Hussain, the former England captain, said he quite likes Bangladesh and Pakistan sticking to their guns regarding their stance for the T20 World Cup 2026, set to be played in India and Sri Lanka from February 7 to March 8. Bangladesh have already been shown the door from the competition after they refused to travel to India, citing security concerns.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) took this call following the ouster of Mustafizur Rahman from the Indian Premier League (IPL) despite being picked by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for INR 9.20 crore.
The Bangladesh removal led Pakistan to also boycott the India contest in the 20-team tournament, and no one really knows whether the encounter between the arch-rivals will go ahead on February 15 in Colombo. Back-channel talks are already underway; however, the Pakistan Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, has stated that the stance will be maintained.
Amid the ongoing standoff between the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the ICC, Hussain said that he quite likes Bangladesh and Pakistan taking a firm stand, as the time has come for someone to say “enough is enough”. He also urged the concerned parties to stop mixing politics into the sport.
“I quite like Bangladesh sticking to their guns. They stood up for their player, the Fiz. And I quite like Pakistan. I know it’s political. I quite like Pakistan sticking up for Bangladesh. And at some stage, someone’s got to say enough with this politics. Can we just get back to playing cricket?” Hussain said on the Sky Cricket Podcast in a conversation with Michael Atherton.
“So maybe it is a real crunch point because the only way Pakistan can hurt the ICC or even India is with the money and the finances of that India-Pakistan game. That’s the only way,” he added.
Hussain also said that the current situation of the game has become “depressing” as politics continues to come in the way. He then spoke about the Asia Cup 2025 theatrics, which saw Indian players refusing to shake hands with Pakistan players and then refusing to accept the trophy from PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi, who is also the Interior Minister of Pakistan.
“Fairly depressing to be honest. Sport, cricket, and politics have always been intertwined. There’s always been a link between sport and politics but it just seems recently that link is more and more. It used to be the exception, it’s now the norm and it’s not just politics and politicians, it’s players as well. Players I’ve seen in the last couple of years, as I say, it’s fairly depressing, not shaking hands, not lifting the trophy. Cricket used to unite nations and countries that were finding difficulties, and now it’s pushing people apart,” said Hussain.
“You’ve just got to remember where this recent crisis started. Rahman is playing for Kolkata in the IPL, or he’s in the squad, and inexplicably, he’s just suddenly the BCCI say, No, you’re going to take him out of that squad because of the ongoing situation with Bangladesh and India and everything from that one decision snowballed,” he added.
‘Will ICC decide the same with India?’
The former England captain, who also refused to take the England team to Zimbabwe in 2003, then stated that he does have some “sympathy” for the ICC, as changing the schedule on Bangladesh’s request at the last minute wouldn’t have been easy. However, he wondered whether the situation would have been different had the request come from India.
“I have some sympathy with the ICC there, that the late decision to say right, we’re not travelling. So I guess the real comparison would be, and this is the real question that only the ICC can answer, if it had been India and in the future if India a month before a tournament say our government does not want us to go and play in that country in a world cup, would the ICC have been so firm and say you know the rules, bad luck, we’re knocking you out. That is the only question that all sides ask for is consistency,” said Hussain.
“You have to treat Bangladesh the same as you treat Pakistan and the same as you treat India. Now India fans will say cry more, we have the money, it’s all down, but with power comes responsibility. If you are constantly knocking Bangladesh or Pakistan, their cricket diminishes, and hence the great games we’ve seen in the past between India and Pakistan or India and Bangladesh become one-sided, as they have,” he added.