The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on Monday denied receiving any sort of deadline from the International Cricket Council (ICC) to take a final call on its participation in the upcoming T20 World Cup. Ever since the release of Mustafizur Rahman by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), the BCB has been adamant in their demand not to play the 20-team tournament in India, asking the apex body to shift their matches to Sri Lanka. Neither BCB nor ICC has relented in their stance, and according to ESPNcricinfo, the latter informed the Bangladesh board of the January 21 deadline during discussions in Dhaka over the weekend.
The BCB has repeatedly said there are security concerns about its team travelling to India for the tournament, set to begin on February 7. Hence, they demanded that matches be shifted to Sri Lanka. However, ICC reportedly is firm in its stance of not changing the original schedule, which sees Bangladesh playing all their matches in India – Kolkata and Mumbai.
The ESPNcricinfo report also claimed that the ICC also ignored Bangladesh’s request to place them in Group B and swap Ireland into Group C. The talks concluded with the ICC telling the BCB to decide on its participation, or else be replaced in the tournament by another team, likely to be Scotland.
However, the BCB media committee chairman on Monday denied being given any sort of deadline, saying no such communication was made by the ICC representatives during their visit to Dhaka.
“Last Saturday, on January 17, an ICC representative came, and our cricket board representatives held a meeting with him. Regarding World Cup participation, there was an issue with the venue, and we informed them of our reluctance to play there. We requested an alternate venue, and we held detailed discussions with the representatives,” the Daily Star quoted BCB media committee chairman Amjad Hossain as saying.
“They told us that they will inform the ICC about the issues and will let us know about the decision later on. In regard to these talks, they haven’t mentioned a specific date or when they will let us know. They just told us that they will let us know when the next discussion will take place. Thank you,” he added.
ICC representatives visit Dhaka
The ICC delegation, comprising Gaurav Saxena, General Manager, Events and Corporate Communications, and Andrew Ephgrave, General Manager of the Integrity Unit, visited Dhaka on January 17.
The BCB then issued a statement, confirming that they had indeed asked the ICC to consider swapping groups and placing Bangladesh in Ireland’s place in Group B, allowing all the matches to proceed in Sri Lanka.
However, media reports later claimed that the ICC had informed Cricket Ireland that its group would not be changed for the tournament. Currently, Bangladesh are placed in Group C alongside England, Nepal, Italy and the West Indies and the side are slated to play three matches at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata and one in Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Bangladesh are scheduled to be in action on the opening day of the tournament as they are lined up to face the West Indies on February 7.
