ICC Rejects BCB Request, Bangladesh T20 World Cup Matches Stay in India

The ICC confirmed the T20 World Cup 2026 will proceed as scheduled, with Bangladesh's matches to be played in India.

The decision was taken following an ICC Board meeting on Wednesday via video conference, which was convened to discuss the way forward after the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had asked that its matches be moved out of India to Sri Lanka, as per the ICC website.

The T20 World Cup will kick off on February 7. Bangladesh are scheduled to kick off their T20 World Cup 2026 campaign on February 7 against two-time champions West Indies at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

The Litton Das-led side will then face Italy on February 9 at the same venue before facing England in Kolkata again. After facing England, Bangladesh are scheduled to travel to Mumbai to play Nepal at Wankhede Stadium.

The decision was reached after considering all security assessments, including independent reviews, which indicated that there was no threat to Bangladesh players, media persons, officials, or fans at any tournament venue in the country.

It was noted that it was not feasible to make changes so close to the tournament and that altering the schedule under the circumstances, in the absence of any credible security threat, could set a precedent that would jeopardise the sanctity of future ICC events and undermine its neutrality as a global governing body.

The ICC management also engaged in a series of correspondence and meetings with the BCB to resolve the impasse, sharing detailed information on the event security plan, including layered federal and state law-enforcement support.

An ICC spokesperson's statement in relation to the decision read, "Over the past several weeks, the ICC has engaged with the BCB in sustained and constructive dialogue, with the clear objective of enabling Bangladesh's participation in the tournament. During this period, the ICC has shared detailed inputs, including independent security assessments, comprehensive venue-level security plans and formal assurances from the host authorities, all of which consistently concluded that there is no credible or verifiable threat to the safety or security of the Bangladesh team in India."

"Despite these efforts, the BCB maintained its position, repeatedly linking its participation in the tournament to a single, isolated and unrelated development concerning one of its players' involvement in a domestic league. This linkage has no bearing on the tournament's security framework or the conditions governing participation in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup," an ICC spokesperson's statement added.

Earlier, BCB formally requested the ICC to relocate Bangladesh's matches in the upcoming ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 to venues outside India, citing "safety and security" concerns for Bangladeshi players, according to a BCB press release.

The developments followed the announcement by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) that they had removed Bangladeshi player Muztafizur Rahman from their IPL 2026 roster in response to a directive from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) regarding atrocities committed against minorities in Bangladesh.

- ANI