From BCB's Osman Hadi tribute to Mustafizur Rahman's IPL 2026 exit: India-Bangladesh rivalry could take the India-Pakistan route from T20 World Cup 2026

On 4th January 2026, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) put out a press release stating their men's team wouldn't travel to India for the upcoming ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026. The tournament is also co-hosted by Sri Lanka but all four of Bangladesh's league games are scheduled in India and unless they qualify to face Pakistan in one of the knockout games, those matches will also be in India.

This stand from the BCB comes a day after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) directed the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to release Bangladesh's Mustafizur Rahman from their IPL 2026 squad. The veteran seamer had been signed by the Kolkata franchise for Rs 9.20 crore at the IPL 2026 Auctions, sparking widespread outrage in India, both on social media and on ground level.

While the India-Bangladesh political relations have been strained since July 2024 when the Awami League was taken down in an unprecedented coup, the cricketing relations didn't seem to have been tampered then. However, the shocking events of December 2025 has arguably changed the narrative between the two nations in cricket.

Over the last year-and-a-half, the Hindu minority in Bangladesh have been suffering on extreme levels and in December 2025, that suffering turned to scarier terrains. Multiple public lynchings of Hindus were reported and these incidents understandably created a huge outrage in India too. During the same time, a hugely popular Bangladeshi political activist Osman Hadi was assassinated in Singapore.

Amongst Hadi's various political philosophies, his strong stand against India was the most noticeable aspect, considering how things had been between the two countries during the Awami League's regime. On the opening day of the Bangladesh Premier League, which is the country's premier T20 tournament, the BCB put up a social media post as a tribute to Hadi.

Apart from the social media post, there was also a one-minute silence observed before the start of the match. These decisions, though taken by the BCB, clearly had a political intervention to it. The strong anti-India tone was steadily on view in Bangladesh, even if through different domains.

By this time, there was significant protests against Mustafizur's participation in IPL 2026, with pressure mounting on KKR and its main co-owner Shah Rukh Khan. The franchise, though, couldn't have acted on its own due how the IPL guidelines work. Once the Indian government directed the BCCI to initiate Mustafizur's exit, consequences were inevitable.

Given the generic reactions in India to Bangladesh and its cricketers, BCB's decision to not play its T20 World Cup 2026 matches in India doesn't come as a surprise. Also, they have a strong case in their request to the ICC regarding venue alteration. Regardless of how the ICC and BCCI sort this out, India-Bangladesh cricketing relations have taken a massive hit.

With these recent developments, India's tour of Bangladesh in September also seems unlikely. Remember, this was a rescheduled series after India had postponed the initial tour which was slated to be held in August 2025. With India-Pakistan rivalry already having an secluded feel to it, is India-Bangladesh the next one to the list?

This also puts a question mark over the future of the Asia Cup and the Asian Cricket Council in general. With Sri Lanka being the silent player, India and Pakistan have often been the major powerhouses with Bangladesh being the next biggest power. The power equations seem set for a reboot and the rest of 2026 will tell us where all this is heading.

The ICC and BCCI are expected to provide their official statements on BCB's request. With the T20 World Cup set to start from February 7, this venue relocation will be a logistical nightmare. More importantly, it will also be the start of a potentially colder angle to India-Bangladesh relations in cricket.