Bangladesh government's sports advisor on Wednesday reiterated that their national team is not willing to travel to India for the T20 World Cup 2026 due to 'security concerns' and that the International Cricket Council had not understood the concerns of the Bangladesh Cricket Board.
Nazrul met the BCB directors on Wednesday after ICC's response to the board's request of change of venue. Bangladesh had requested to relocate their matches from India after Mustafizur Rahman was released from the IPL by KKR. The ICC, as per BCB, "reiterated its commitment to ensuring the full and uninterrupted participation of the Bangladesh team in the tournament. The ICC has conveyed its willingness to work closely with the BCB to address the concerns raised and has assured that the Board's inputs will be welcomed and duly considered as part of the detailed security planning for the event."
Nazrul addresses media, reiterates refusal to travel to India
Meanwhile, during a press conference after the meeting with the BCB directors, Nazrul stated that Bangladesh are not willing to travel to India and that the BCB will write another letter to the International body, to stress more on the issue.
"We sat together with the BCB directors - Bulbul [Aminul Islam] bhai, Faruque bhai and everyone else. Today we discussed the situation, and we all agreed that Bangladesh earned qualification for the T20 World Cup through hard work. We are a cricket-crazy nation, and we definitely want to play," Nazrul told reporters after the meeting on Wednesday.
"But we do not want to play the World Cup at the cost of national humiliation, at the cost of the security of our cricketers, spectators and journalists, or at the cost of the country's dignity. After reading the letter we received from the ICC today, it felt to us that they have not fully understood the serious security situation that has developed in India for Bangladeshi cricketers," he said.
"To me, it does not feel like only a security issue - it feels like an issue of national humiliation as well. Still, we are primarily treating it as a security issue. When the Indian cricket board itself is telling the Kolkata team that they cannot provide security to this player [Mustafizur], and asking them to drop him from the team - that alone shows there is no environment in India where it is safe to play," he said.
'No compromise on security, honour and dignity': Nazrul
Nazrul said that Bangladesh don't want to compromise its security, honour and dignity. "We do not want to go into the wider communal situation in India. But when it comes to the security of our cricketers, the security of Bangladesh, and the honour and dignity of Bangladesh, there will be no compromise. We want to play cricket, we want to play the World Cup, and since there is another host country, Sri Lanka, we want to play there. We are firm on this position.
"Why are we firm on this position? We hope we will be able to explain that to the ICC. And we hope the ICC will consider our arguments impartially and allow us to play in the T20 World Cup that we have earned through hard work," he said.
He said that the BCB has strong arguments and would try to persuade the sporting body with them. They remain firm in playing the World Cup.
"Our first stand is to convince the ICC. We have strong arguments, and we will convince them with those arguments. The core principle of our stand is that on the question of Bangladesh's security, Bangladesh's honour and Bangladesh's dignity, there will be no compromise. But we definitely want to play the Cricket World Cup," Nazrul said.
He added that Bangladesh would think about its future based on the response from the ICC. "The letter [to ICC] will be sent tonight or by tomorrow morning, and after that, whatever the situation becomes, we will sit and make a decision. So far, our decision is clear: we will explain to the ICC that there is no environment in India for us to play safely," he said.
