Bangladesh refuse to travel to India for T20 World Cup

Bangladesh will not travel to India to play in next month’s ICC T20 World Cup, the Bangladesh Cricket Board said on Thursday, a day after the game’s governing body rejected Dhaka’s request to move its matches to Sri Lanka.

BCB President Aminul Islam Bulbul said the decision effectively rules Bangladesh out of the tournament, which is scheduled to begin on February 7 with 20 teams participating.

“Our only demand is to play the World Cup — but not in India,” Bulbul told reporters.

The decision was taken after a meeting between BCB officials, national team players and Adviser to the Ministry of Youth and Sports Asif Nazrul.

Addressing the media after the meeting, Nazrul said Bangladesh’s position remained unchanged despite the ICC dismissing its plea during a board meeting on Wednesday.

He said the country’s concerns were linked to security issues in India, which, according to him, had not improved.

“There is no scope to change our decision. We believe we did not get justice from the ICC. We still hope the ICC will do justice with us,” Nazrul said.

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“The security situation in India remains unchanged. Our concerns did not arise out of thin air. They stem from a real incident,” he added.

Nazrul claimed that India had failed to provide adequate security to a Bangladeshi cricketer in the past, alleging that the Indian cricket board, which he described as closely linked to the government, either failed or was unwilling to protect the player when faced with pressure from extremist groups.

The ICC has yet to respond to Bangladesh’s latest stance, which has cast uncertainty over the team’s participation in the upcoming T20 World Cup.