‘No compromise with Bangladesh’s dignity,’ BCB on not travelling to India for T20 World Cup

Bangladesh is not ready to settle with ICC’s latest verdict on their request for a venue change at the upcoming 2026 T20 World Cup. The country’s sports advisor, Asif Nazrul, has doubled down on BCB’s request to move Bangladesh’s league stage matches out of India (to Sri Lanka), citing security concerns. Asif said the BCB would chase the apex body, trying to convince them of the gravity of the issue, related to its players’ safety and ‘country’s dignity’ – something they are unwilling to compromise an inch on.

After the ICC rejected BCB’s plea of staging their matches in Sri Lanka, the co-host of the 20-team tournament, Asif said, "Today (on Wednesday), after reading the letter from the ICC, we understand that the ICC doesn't fully realise the scale of the security issue regarding Bangladeshi cricketers in India.

"I believe it's not only a matter of security but also that of national humiliation. We are looking at it as a security issue, where the BCCI itself is telling the Kolkata [Knight Riders] team that this player can't be given security, [so] leave him out from your team. This in itself is a tacit recognition that it isn't very safe to play in India,” he added.

In the now-released ICC schedule, Bangladesh will play their first three league matches in Kolkata before moving south to Mumbai for their last group game. Although there were no concerns around it at the start, it all became an issue after the BCCI instructed the IPL franchise, Kolkata Knight Riders, to release Bangladeshi seamer Mustafizur Rahman (bought at the December auction for INR 9.2 crore) over recent chaos in Bangladesh and regular attacks on the minorities.

While ‘latest developments’ across the border did hurt the relations between the two countries, not receiving a proper and reasonable explanation (from the BCCI) over Mustafizur’s release irked BCB and cricket fans, which further escalated the situation.

The BCB first banned all IPL-related broadcasts in the country before formally writing to the ICC, raising their concerns. Now, while reverting to ICC’s decision, the BCB said they will continue ‘constructive engagement’ to find a solution, also reiterating its intentions not to play in India.

"We don't want to say anything about the bigger picture, the communal situation in India," Nazrul said, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

"But when it comes to our cricketers' safety, Bangladesh's safety, and Bangladesh's dignity, we won't make any compromise. We want to play cricket, we want to play the World Cup - but we want to play in Sri Lanka, which is the other host country. We are honouring our position on this because we hope we are able to convince the ICC, and that the ICC considers our logic with an open heart, and neutrally, to let us deservingly play in the World Cup.

"Whatever happens next, we'll take a stand accordingly. For now, we have taken this stand very clearly that we'll convince the ICC that the atmosphere isn't [right] for us to play in India,” he added.