The International Cricket Council (ICC) has rejected BCB's request to move its World Cup matches out of India. The T20 World Cup 2026, set to kick off from February 7, will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka
Bangladesh team's players celebrate during an international match (Pic: X/@ICC)
Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) President Aminul Islam Bulbul has confirmed that the board is firm on its decision not to participate in the upcoming T20 World Cup 2026 in India.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has rejected BCB's request to move its World Cup matches out of India. The T20 World Cup 2026 is set to kick off from February 7, which will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.
The BCB chief said the cricket body encountered some “shocking” decisions during its meeting with the ICC.
"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 in the ICC Board Meeting. The Mustafizur issue is not an isolated single issue. They (India) were the sole decision makers in that issue," he told reporters.
He added that the sport will soon make its Olympic debut, but said Bangladesh’s absence from the global event would be a failure on the ICC’s part.
"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 ICC's failure," added Bulbul.
The ties between India and Bangladesh worsened after the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) released Mustafizur Rahman from its squad ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026.
Bangladesh's Youth and Sports Adviser Asif Nazrul on Thursday said that the ICC failed to convince them on security concerns in India.
"ICC has failed to convince us on the security question. ICC has not taken any stand on our grievances. Even the Indian government did not communicate with us, or try to assuage our fears," Nazrul said.
"We haven't lost hope yet. We hope ICC will understand our genuine security risk concerns and allow us to play in Sri Lanka," he added.
T20 World Cup 2026: Group C teams
As of now, the Bengal Tigers are placed in Group C of the T20 World Cup 2026 along with teams such as England, Italy, Nepal, and the West Indies.
(With ANI Inputs)
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