Bangladesh is out of the T20 World Cup after the interim government refused to send the national cricket team to India on security grounds.
Bangladesh has played in every ICC Men’s T20 World Cup tournament since the shorter format of cricket was introduced in 2002. Remaining absent from this year’s tournament, which begins on 7 February, is a major blow to the country’s cricket.
Youth and Sports Adviser Asif Nazrul, after a meeting with government, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) officials and players on Thursday, confirmed that Bangladesh team would not travel to co-host country India to take part in the world cup.
Asif Nazrul clarified that the decision is entirely a government directive taken after careful assessment. “The decision not to play the World Cup in India, considering the security risk, is a decision of our government,” he told journalists.
“Whether there is a security risk when people of one country travel to another is something the government evaluates. It is not within anyone else’s scope of consideration,” he added.
Before that, multiple rounds of meetings and correspondence between BCB and International Cricket Council also took place.
Regardless of several rounds of meetings, exchanges of letters, and prolonged discussions with the ICC, the BCB was unable to secure a decision in its favour.
On Wednesday, the ICC informed Bangladesh that it saw no security threat in India and stated that if Bangladesh were to participate in the World Cup, they would have to play in India. The ICC imposed a one-day deadline on the BCB to communicate its final decision after consulting the government.
BCB arranged the meeting between Asif Nazrul and the players to explain the situation and the government’s security concerns. According to a player who attended the meeting and told TIMES of Bangladesh, in conditions of anonymity, the players expressed their desire to play in the tournament but ultimately agreed to align with the government’s decision in the broader national interest.
After the meeting, Asif Nazrul said, “Naturally, we all wanted to play the T20 World Cup because our cricketers achieved qualification through a lot of hard work. But the security risk we face in playing in India has not changed at all.”
Earlier, the BCB’s request to shift the venue outside India was rejected. At the ICC meeting held on Wednesday evening, all full member nations except Pakistan voted against Bangladesh’s demand. If Bangladesh ultimately refuse to play in India, the ICC plans to replace them with Scotland in Group C of the World Cup.
Although the ICC’s deadline has passed, there are still around two weeks before the tournament begins. Despite rejecting the proposal to play in India, the adviser remained hopeful that the ICC will reconsider and relocate Bangladesh’s matches to Sri Lanka.
“We have not lost hope yet. We hope the ICC will give due consideration to our genuine security concerns and allow us to play the World Cup in Sri Lanka. We are still waiting with that hope,” Nazrul said.
The security issue gained urgency after Kolkata Knight Riders dropped Mustafizur Rahman from their squad on January 3 following instructions from the BCCI. In response, the BCB swiftly emailed the ICC twice, requesting that the World Cup venue be moved outside India, citing safety concerns.
The BCCI’s directive reportedly followed protests by extremist groups in India, raising concerns over Mustafizur’s security. However, the ICC later described the incident as an isolated case in its official statement.
Questioning the broader implications, Asif Nazrul said that if India could not ensure the safety of a single cricketer, it raised serious doubts about the security of the entire contingent. “If India could not ensure security for Mustafizur, how will it ensure the safety of our players, journalists, and spectators?” he asked.
BCB President Aminul Islam Bulbul also hopeful of a positive outcome and reiterated Bangladesh’s desire to participate in the tournament. “We will continue to try in our own way. We have not given up yet. We will communicate again today on a few more issues and keep trying so that our boys can play in the World Cup,” Bulbul said.
Emphasising Bangladesh’s sole demand, he added, “We have only one demand. We want to play the World Cup. At this moment, we do not want to play in India. We want to play the World Cup in Sri Lanka or at another venue.”
