The deadlock continues between the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and the International Cricket Council (ICC) over Bangladesh's potential participation in T20 World Cup 2026 that is co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka. On January 11, the ICC have let out an official statement, rejecting the BCB's request to relocate Bangladesh's matches in India on the grounds of potential security threat.
An independent agency appointed by the ICC has looked into the security arrangements for Bangladesh's venues (Kolkata and Mumbai) and termed the security threat to range from low to moderate. In such a situation, the ICC has maintained that it shall continue with its existing stance against BCB, which is against moving matches out of India.
"It is important to clarify that the ICC's independent risk assessments, carried out by internationally recognised security experts, do not conclude that Bangladesh cannot play its scheduled matches in India," said a source.
"The overall security risk for the tournament in India has been assessed as low to moderate, which is consistent with the profile of many major global sporting events."
On January 4, the BCB had announced its withdrawal from playing T20 World Cup matches in India, a reaction that was spurred by Mustafizur Rahman's removal from IPL 2026 by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The BCCI's stand was arguably directed by the Indian government whose Bangladesh counterparts then responded through the BCB.
What happens if Bangladesh continue with this stance? They will have no option but to forfeit their matches and while teams have done this in the past, the scenario is different here because all of Bangladesh's league matches are in India. Hence, if they were to stick to their stance of not travelling to India, they are effectively eliminated already.
The group then becomes a four-way battle between West Indies, England, Nepal and Italy, and these teams will be awarded full points for their respective fixtures against Bangladesh. With the scenario being so delicate, it seems unlikely that the BCB will continue to stick to their adamant stance.
