The International Cricket Council (ICC) replaced Scotland with Bangladesh for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2026, starting February 7. After Mustafizur Rahman was released by Kolkata Knight Riders for IPL 2026, Bangladesh cited security as the reason for not travelling to India for the multi-nation tournament. Since then, ICC have hosted multiple meetings, including one with all the full-member nations but Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) didn’t change their stance and eventually opted out of the competition.
In the meantime, soon after ICC’s official statement, Bangladesh issued a statement confirming the development, stating that the decision was taken following the government’s order. BCB Media Committee chairman Amjad Hossain said that they respect the ICC board but there was nothing left for them to do as they can’t go against government orders. He also mentioned that the board wanted to find a solution and was ready to play in Sri Lanka, but that couldn’t have been arranged.
“We have spoken with the government. The government has said that going to India to play in the World Cup would not be safe for us, for our players, journalists, or anyone accompanying the team. In that case, we requested that our match be shifted to Sri Lanka. However, the ICC did not agree to that, even after several rounds of meetings. Since the ICC did not respond, there is not much we can do because this is the government’s decision. Due to security concerns, playing in India is not safe for us, and that is why this decision has been taken,” Ajmad said in a press conference.
“We have tried our best. We fully respect the ICC Board, and the Board’s majority decision was that the match cannot be relocated. Even after that, we tried in our own way and made requests. Since they will not do it or do not want to, there is nothing more we can do,” he added.
Pakistan sings same old song
In the past three years, Pakistan have called for boycotting several tournaments. After India refused to travel to Pakistan for the Asia Cup 2023, Pakistan called for boycotting the ODI World Cup 2023. However, they didn’t go ahead with it. A similar thing repeated in Champions Trophy 2025 when India opted not to travel to Pakistan for the tournament and in reply, Pakistan threatened to participate altogether. This time, the reason is different but Pakistan have already sung the same song of boycotting the tournament.
