 "BCB president Aminul Islam will speak to the Bangladesh government in a last-ditch effort to save T20 World Cup participation. Image: BCB")
Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Aminul Islam has revealed that the deadline for their participation in the upcoming T20 World Cup 2026 was extended by a day or two after he requested additional time from the International Cricket Council (ICC) to discuss the matter with the Bangladesh government. Aminul was forced to take this step after it was decided in a Board meeting on Wednesday that a new team would replace them if they did not play in India in the T20 World Cup 2026 .
Bangladesh had been steadfast on their demand not to play in India but in Sri Lanka due to security concerns after pacer Mustafizur Rahman was removed from the Indian Premier League (IPL).
While BCB was hoping for a compromise with ICC, the Board voted in favour of replacing Bangladesh in the T20 World Cup 2026 if they do not agree to play in India. Scotland are most likely to replace Bangladesh.
Aminul repeats India is not safe for Bangladesh
With all hopes evaporating, BCB president Aminul requested more time from ICC to have another discussion with the Bangladesh government. However, Aminul, in a conversation with ESPN, added that “India is not secure” for the Bangladesh team and there’s very little chance that the government would allow them to travel to the neighbouring country.
“I asked the ICC board for time to talk to my government for one last time,” Aminul told ESPN. “They said it’s a valid point, and gave me 24 or 48 hours to get back to them. I don’t want to put pressure on the government. We know that India is not secure for us. We remain in the stance that we want to play in Sri Lanka. I know the ICC denied us but we will talk to the government one more time. I will inform the ICC about the government’s feedback.”
“The Bangladesh players want to play the World Cup. The Bangladesh government wants Bangladesh to play the World Cup. But we don’t think India is safe for our players. A government doesn’t only consider the players, but they consider all, when it takes a decision.”
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During the ICC board meeting, which was held virtually, Bangladesh requested to switch groups with either Ireland and Zimbabwe, but that proposal was outvoted, while Sri Lanka said that they do not want a “new team” in the group.
The BCB had raised the issue of Mustafizur being removed from the IPL by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and used it as a basis to show that Bangladesh players would not be safe in India. But ICC rejected that theory by saying that the BCB was “repeatedly linking its participation in the tournament to a single, isolated and unrelated development concerning one of its player’s involvement in a domestic league. This linkage has no bearing on the tournament’s security framework or the conditions governing participation in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.”
Bangladesh, who are part of Group C with England, Italy, West Indies and Nepal, play their T20 World Cup group matches in Kolkata and Mumbai.