Politics

The ICC Board has declined the Bangladesh Cricket Board's (BCB) request to move their matches for the 2026 T20 World Cup out of India. In an emergency meeting with all board members present, it was decided that the BCB's request would not be accepted. They now have 24 hours to confirm if they will participate in the tournament. Should Bangladesh refuse to play in India due to security issues, the ICC has chosen to replace them with Scotland, based on team rankings. This decision came after a vote among the ICC members, with all but two of the 16 members opposing any changes to the T20 World Cup schedule. Consequently, the World Cup will proceed as planned from February 7 to March 8. The ICC's choice follows weeks of doubt surrounding Bangladesh's involvement in the T20 World Cup. On January 4, the BCB, along with the Bangladesh government, notified the ICC that they would not send their team to India due to safety worries. This decision was prompted by the BCCI's instruction for Kolkata Knight Riders to release Bangladeshi fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman from their IPL 2026 squad, although no specific reason was provided. Since then, both the BCB and the Bangladesh government have insisted that Bangladesh will not go to India and have requested to play in Sri Lanka instead. Last week, the BCB also proposed swapping their group with a team like Ireland, which is scheduled to play all their group matches in Sri Lanka. However, this request was also turned down. An independent security agency prepared a risk assessment report for the T20 World Cup, which was reviewed by ESPNcricinfo. It indicated that the threat level for teams playing in India is moderate to high, but noted that there is “no information to indicate a direct threat against participating teams.” Bangladesh is in Group C for the T20 World Cup and is set to play their initial three matches in Kolkata on February 7, 9, and 14, followed by a final match in Mumbai on February 17.