T20 World Cup 2026: All about the ICC vs Bangladesh saga

Since the BCCI has removed Mustafizur Rahman from the IPL 2026 participation, the Bangladesh Cricket Board has been continuously demanding that the ICC change Bangladesh’s T20 World Cup 2026 match venues from India to Sri Lanka. A few days ago, according to Indian media, ICC had already denied that demand. However, that same day, BCB rejected every report and affirmed that ICC had not responded to their official request. Following that, some reports also claimed that ICC would change Bangladesh’s match venue from Eden Gardens and Wankhede to Trivandrum and Chennai. Despite this, BCB stands on his demand. 

Now, according to some fresh reports, Bangladesh sports advisor Asif Nazrul once again stated that the Bangladesh cricket team will not travel to India at any cost. They pointed out once again, security concerns. On Monday, during an event, he said Bangladesh was unable to participate in the event if matches were held in India due to the country's current circumstances.

He also criticised the ICC. He said that the ICC should take independent decisions if they genuinely believe themselves to be a global organisation. He added that Bangladesh should be allowed to play their World Cup matches outside of India, whether in the UAE, Sri Lanka, or Pakistan.  

“We believe that given the extreme communal situation prevailing in India and the anti-Bangladesh environment, especially the anti-Bangladesh campaign that has been ongoing in India for the past 16 months, Bangladesh can't play cricket in India. The Mustafizur incident and the letter I mentioned have unequivocally proven this. We believe that no one should have a monopoly over the game of cricket. The fate of a game or a tournament cannot be determined solely based on market management. If the ICC is truly a global organisation and if the ICC does not simply follow India’s dictates, then it should definitely allow us to play in the T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka. We will not accept any compromise on this issue,” Nazrul said at the event.

When BCCI terminated Mustafizur Rahman’s IPL 2026 contract, Bangladesh suspended the broadcasts of the IPL in their country indefinitely and formally requested the ICC to change their venues.  

“They are proposing two venues, both in India. India means India. We are talking about India. We mentioned Kolkata; changing it to Sri Lanka is not a problem. I don’t know if it’s true that Pakistan wants to host our matches. Host it in Pakistan, no problem; host it in the UAE, no problem. When the BCCI in India, bowing to extremist communal forces, says that a player from our team should not be allowed to play there, what greater proof do we need? I will give you a copy of the letter from the security team. It unequivocally proves that there is no suitable environment for us to play there, no suitable environment anywhere in India,” he concluded.

In a recent video conference with ICC, BCB reaffirmed their position. It will be interesting to see what the ICC decides on this matter. The ICC T20 World Cup 2026 will begin on February 7.