Azif Nazrul, the Bangladesh government’s sports advisor, said the national team would not participate in the T20 World Cup at the cost of the country’s dignity. Tensions between India and Bangladesh have intensified in recent days, after Kolkata Knight Riders released premier pacer Mustafizur Rahman from their squad following a directive from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
Mustafizur’s removal from the IPL has angered the Bangladeshi cricket fraternity, prompting the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) to approach the ICC with a request to move Bangladesh’s World Cup matches out of India. The ICC, however, is understood to have rejected the request, citing the absence of any actionable security inputs.
Nazrul said the BCB has received a letter from the ICC but stressed that the governing body was yet to fully grasp the severity of the security concerns.
“We are a cricket-crazy nation and we definitely want to play. But we do not want to play the World Cup at the cost of national humiliation, at the cost of the security of our cricketers, spectators and journalists, or at the cost of the country’s dignity,” Nazrul told reporters after the meeting on Wednesday.
“After reading the letter we received from the ICC today, it felt to us that they have not fully understood the serious security situation that has developed in India for Bangladeshi cricketers,” he said.
BCB president Aminul Islam Bulbul said Bangladesh remains firm on its stance and will send another letter to the ICC on Thursday or Friday.
Earlier, sources told India Today that the issue was discussed during a virtual meeting between the ICC and BCB, during which the ICC conveyed that the tournament schedule and venues would remain unchanged, and warned that failure to play could result in forfeiture of points.
However, the BCB maintained that it had received no official communication confirming any such rejection or warning. Later on Wednesday, the board issued a formal statement rejecting claims that the ICC had issued an ultimatum.
BANGLADESH BANS IPL BROADCAST
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh government has imposed an indefinite ban on the broadcast and promotion of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the wake of the controversy surrounding Mustafizur Rahman’s removal from the Kolkata Knight Riders squad.
In an official directive issued on January 5, authorities confirmed that all IPL-related telecasts, promotional activities and event coverage have been suspended with immediate effect and will continue until further notice. The move, according to the statement, was taken in the “public interest” and approved by the competent authority.
The ICC is now expected to step in, with Bangladesh currently scheduled to play all four of their league-stage matches in India under the existing tournament schedule.
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