Overview:
The Bangladesh Cricket Board has said that it is seeking a change in venue purely due to safety issues, and there is no politics involved behind their stance.
Bangladesh’s sports adviser Asif Nazrul has warned the International Cricket Council, saying they will not accept pressure and unreasonable conditions amid the ongoing discussion about the country’s participation in the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 matches in India. The global competition is scheduled to be played in India and Sri Lanka from February 7 to March 8, 2026, but Bangladesh are not ready to compete in Indian stadiums due to security concerns. Bangladesh’s fixtures are in Kolkata and Mumbai.
Nazrul dismissed the speculation that the ICC is going to remove Bangladesh from the tournament if they refuse to play. “We haven’t anything about Scotland’s inclusion instead of us. If the ICC try to put pressure on us due to the Indian Cricket Board, we will not accept it,” he said.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board has said that it is seeking a change in venue purely due to safety issues, and there is no politics involved behind their stance. The board wants a change of venues or a swap of groups to allow Bangladesh to play all their games in Sri Lanka.
However, the ICC is reluctant to change anything at the last moment. With the World Cup a few weeks away, the apex body finds no valid reason to relocate matches from India to another country.
The ICC and BCB are engaged in talks to solve the crisis. Bangladesh are in Group C alongside England, West Indies, Italy and Nepal.
Meanwhile, as per PTI, Scotland are the leading candidate to replace Bangladesh on current rankings. ICC is under pressure to break the deadlock, but Bangladesh have made it clear that they will not compete in India.