How ICC’s security assessment was falsely portrayed by Bangladeshi media and sports adviser Asif Nazrul

On Monday, several media reports in Bangladesh claimed that the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) security assessment had proved that the Bangladesh cricket team cannot safely play its matches in India during the 2026 T20 World Cup.

The claims gained further traction after Bangladesh’s sports adviser Asif Nazrul publicly said that the ICC’s own assessment highlighted serious security difficulties for Bangladesh in India. According to him, the document showed that playing the T20 World Cup in India would be unsafe under current conditions.

“So this statement of the ICC security team has proven beyond a doubt that there is no situation for the Bangladesh cricket team to play the T20 World Cup in India. If the ICC expects us to make a cricket team without our best bowler, our supporters will not be able to wear the Bangladesh jersey, and we will postpone the Bangladesh elections to play cricket, then there can be no more bizarre, unrealistic and unreasonable expectation than this,” Nazrul said on Monday.

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However, fresh reports suggest that the ICC’s security assessment was misrepresented by the Bangladeshi media and the country’s sports adviser. ICC sources have clarified that the document does not say Bangladesh cannot play in India. “It’s complete falsehood…There is no such advisory in formal communication,” an ICC source told PTI.

The assessment, which was shared with the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s (BCB) security team last week, reportedly stated that there is no specific or heightened threat to the Bangladesh team in India. It categorised risks as low to moderate in some venues and low to nil in others. It is a standard practice followed by the ICC for all major tournaments around the world.

Nazrul claimed that the assessment flagged three issues as security concerns, with one of them being Mustafizur Rahman’s presence in the Bangladesh team. However, ICC has reportedly said the assessment did not ask Bangladesh to drop Mustafizur and insisted that the document was meant only for internal security planning.

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Later in the day, the Bangladesh Cricket Board also stepped in to clarify the confusion. In a statement, the BCB said the ICC security assessment being discussed was not an official reply to Bangladesh’s request to move their T20 World Cup matches out of India.

“The correspondence cited today by the Adviser for the Ministry of Youth & Sports was in reference to an internal communication between the BCB and the ICC’s Security Department related to threat assessments for the Bangladesh team ahead of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. This does not constitute a formal response from the ICC to the BCB’s request for the relocation of Bangladesh’s matches outside India,” the BCB said in its statement.

The controversy comes against the backdrop of the recent Mustafizur Rahman issue. Earlier this month, IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders released the Bangladesh pacer from their IPL 2026 squad on instructions of the BCCI. This move is believed to be linked to political tensions between India and Bangladesh, as well as reports of attacks on Hindus in the country.

Soon after, the BCB expressed reluctance to tour India for the T20 World Cup, citing safety concerns. The Bangladesh government also banned the broadcast of IPL 2026 in the country and said it was hurt by the BCCI’s decision to exclude Mustafizur from the league.