ICC delegation will soon visit Bangladesh for final talks with the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on the 2026 T20 World Cup, amid the board's refusal to play matches in India due to cited security concerns for players, ICC sources told news agency ANI.
This follows ICC's rejection of BCB's request to relocate Bangladesh's games to neutral venues like Sri Lanka, escalating tensions ahead of the India-Sri Lanka co-hosted tournament scheduled for February-March 2026.
The ICC on Tuesday had "requested" the BCB to reconsider its demand of shifting the country's T20 World Cup matches out of India, but the BCB has refused to back down. In a statement, the BCB said the board's position remains unchanged despite the ICC's reluctance to entertain its request and both parties will continue to "explore possible solutions".
BCB has written to the ICC multiple times demanding that its World Cup games be shifted out of India due to security concerns, but considering that the schedule for the T20 showpiece beginning Feb 7 is finalised, the world body is unlikely to relent.
While the BCB considers it unsafe for its players to travel to India, ICC's risk assessment report does not flag any specific or direct threat to the team if it participates in the tournament.
Bangladesh is scheduled to play three games in Kolkata and one in Mumbai during the league stage. BCB asked for a relocation after the BCCI instructed Kolkata Knight Riders to release pacer Mustafizur Rahman from its IPL 2026 roster amid violence against Hindus in Dhaka. Following Mustafizur's removal, an irate Bangladesh government banned IPL's broadcast in the country.
Former captain Tamim Iqbal and current Test skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto have cautioned against a very hard-line approach, with the former saying that decisions taken today would have repercussions 10 years down the line. Shanto has voiced the psychological stress that the players are feeling at the prospect of missing a World Cup.
However, sports ministry advisor Asif Nazrul has taken an unyielding position, repeatedly stating that Bangladesh will not budge from its demand for relocation of its games to co-host Sri Lanka.
(with inputs from PTI)
Watch LIVE TV, Get Stock Market Updates, Top Business, IPO and Latest News on NDTV Profit.
