The deadlock between Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and International Cricket Council (ICC) continues over Bangladesh's participation in T20 World Cup 2026. As per latest reports, the ICC have scheduled a crucial meeting with the BCB on Saturday (January 17) in Dhaka. The previous negotiations were held through video conference earlier this week.
BCB continues to be adamant in its stance of not travelling to India for the tournament and have maintained their demand of a relocation of venues to Sri Lanka. Currently, Kolkata and Mumbai are the two venues for Bangladesh's league matches. However, the ICC had rejected the request by stating that the alleged security threat is considered to be baseless and advised BCB to reconsider their stance.
That's why this meeting on Saturday is of utmost importance to Bangladesh's participation in the T20 World Cup. If the deadlock continues, we might end up witnessing a rare withdrawal by a full-member nation before the start of an ICC tournament. There have been many theories about how much money the BCB could potentially lose if Bangladesh doesn't participate in the tournament. What is the truth?
The truth is that the BCB stands to lose nothing if Bangladesh pulls out of the T20 World Cup. The BCB's financial committee chairman Najmul Islam has rubbished claims about potential losses to the Board in such a scenario and explained in detail why no losses will be incurred.
"There will be no loss for the Bangladesh Cricket Board [if we don't take part in the World Cup] as the loss will be for the players," Islam said.
"Up to 2027, our revenue will not be hampered because in the 2022 ICC financial meeting, this was already fixed. Future World Cups or future bilateral or international events may have relevance, for example whether teams will come to us under the FTP. Those are valid questions. But this World Cup does not affect that."
However, the scenario is different for the players who earn through match fees and this is generally higher for matches in ICC tournaments. It is also understood that the players from Bangladesh's T20 World Cup 2026 squad aren't too keen on boycotting the tournament and understandably so. Playing a World Cup is the ultimate dream of any cricketer and the rookies in particular wouldn't want to miss out.
What should potentially annoy the cricketers is that the BCB will not be giving any compensation to the players in case Bangladesh decide to pull out of the tournament. Islam, already under fire for his comments about Tamim Iqbal, gave an ultra-aggressive reply when asked about this topic.
ALSO READ
- Gopichand-led task force bats for using PMKVY, CSR to strengthen India’s sports coaching
- Virat Kohli's old social media post to popular actress-model Shibani Akhtar goes viral again; netizens respond with trolls
- T20 World Cup 2026: Will Tilak Varma and Washington Sundar be available? What is the deadline for teams to make squad changes?
"Why [should we compensate?]If they play in a tournament and don't perform, then the crores of Taka that we spent behind them, do we ask for that money back from them? Do we? Answer me.
"Now think of it this way, if the board itself does not exist, will the players exist? Answer me that. You are thinking from only one side. I have a body and two hands. I do many things with my hands. If I do not have hands, my body cannot function properly. If I do not have a body, my hands cannot exist. They are part and parcel of each other. You cannot think of one without the other. They are complementary, not against each other."
