&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Greatest Bangladesh cricketer Shakib blames interim govt for 2026 T20 WC row, calls it ‘blunder’")
Bangladesh’s greatest cricketer, Shakib Al Hasan, has spoken about his team’s absence from the 2026 T20 World Cup for the first time since that episode. Speaking on the sidelines of the EUT20 Belgium event in Mumbai, Shakib addressed Bangladesh’s absence from a global ICC event (for the first time since 1999), saying the country’s interim government committed a ‘blunder’ by not allowing the cricket team to travel to India for their scheduled league matches, citing security concerns.
"I think it was a big loss. It was a great miss as far as Bangladesh cricket is concerned. We as a country love watching our players play in the World Cup. We are a cricket-loving country. I think it was a blunder from the government side that they took the decision not to participate in the World Cup,” Shakib said.
This situation arose after BCCI urged IPL franchise KKR to release Mustafizur Rahman, the only Bangladeshi player picked at last December’s IPL auction, against the backdrop of tense political relations between India and Bangladesh. The BCB held emergency meetings and later pushed ICC to relocate its scheduled league matches to Sri Lanka, but the apex body voted against it.
Things turned ugly.
The then-Bangladesh sports advisor, Asif Nazrul, ordered BCB not to send its team to India, citing security concerns; he later repeated on several occasions that he had only acted on the government’s orders. However, after the ICC replaced Bangladesh with Scotland, Nazrul backtracked, claiming that the BCB acted independently.
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What was worse was that it strained relationships between the BCCI and the BCB. Shakib, however, said he expects relations to be amended between the two boards, especially after Team India’s tour to Bangladesh for a white-ball series in September this year.
"I think things will get better," Shakib said. "The effort should be made [to improve the relationship between BCCI and BCB]. I think one or two series if Bangladesh visit to India or India go to Bangladesh; like I heard there's a series that is likely to happen in August or September. When that happens, I think the ice will break, and things will get better.”
