The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) made their position clear again on Thursday. Asif Nazrul, the sports advisor to the Bangladesh government, told reporters that even after registering with the International Cricket Council (ICC), they did not find any clarity on safety for their players in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2026, which will be jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka from the first week of February 2026.
BCB has applied to the council to move their matches from India to Sri Lanka, citing security concerns following the expulsion of star Bangladeshi player Mustafizur Rahman from the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL 2026).
From the IPL 2026 mini-auction, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) bought Rahman at a hefty price. But they had to release the pacer after instructions from BCCI, which soured the relationship between India and Bangladesh.
Bangladesh cricket team remains uncertain for the 2026 ICC T20 World Cup
The Bangladesh cricket board took BCCI’s decision to exclude Rahman from IPL 2026 very seriously and took further steps to put pressure on the Indian cricket board. Bangladesh will play all their group matches in Kolkata, which is now full of uncertainty. The BCB communicated with the board to shift the World Cup venues outside India to Sri Lanka but did not get the desired response from the ICC, which has really irritated the BCB officials.
It was reported on Wednesday that instead of acceding to BCB’s plea to shift the venues, the ICC gave the Bangladesh Cricket Board 24 hours to make a decision on their participation. ICC will keep Scotland as a standby option if Bangladesh cricket team refuses to travel to India.
Stump from Mustafizur Rahman from IPL 2026 raised again
On Thursday, Nazrul met the Bangladesh cricket team to discuss the current scenario. After the meeting, the official told reporters that they want to participate in the 2026 T20 World Cup but want assurances about the safety of the players. In support of his comments, he also raised the topic of Mustafizur Rahman.
“I don’t think we have gotten justice from the ICC. Whether we play in the World Cup or not is entirely a decision of the government. Nothing has happened in India in the recent past to indicate that things have changed there (on the security front). We hope the ICC will give us justice.”
“Security will be the responsibility of that country’s police and security services. So what has changed since that incident that makes us believe there will be no more extremist flare-ups? They couldn’t protect Mustafizur – so what has changed? How can we be convinced that they can protect our players, journalists and supporters?” Bangladesh government sports advisor Asif Nazrul asked the questions.
Nazrul claimed that the ICC did not take their request seriously enough and could not convince them. He even said that the Indian government has also made no effort to reassure Bangladesh about their security concerns in India.
The government of Bangladesh is dissatisfied with the ICC and the government of India
“The ICC made no effort to convince us. They ignored the real incident and only talked about their standard security procedures. They did not take a good position on the actual complaint.
“Even the Indian government made no effort to convince us by saying that the incident involving Mustafizur was isolated, or that they were sorry, or that they were taking steps. They made no attempt to contact us, no attempt to reassure us about the safety of our journalists, spectators and players. Therefore, there is no room to change our decision,” he added.
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