Bangladesh were placed in Group C. (BCB Photo)
A day after the International Cricket Council (ICC) asked the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) to confirm whether their team would play the T20 World Cup in India next month as scheduled, the Bangladesh government responded on Thursday, reiterating that its players are keen to participate but not in India.
The decision sets the stage for the ICC to replace the team with Scotland, as the global governing body had decided during its Board meeting on Wednesday when Bangladesh was given the ultimatum.
Speaking to reporters after holding a “high-level meeting” with BCB president Aminul Islam and the team’s cricketers, Bangladesh’s Sports Advisor Asif Nazrul said they want to play the tournament in Sri Lanka, which are the co-hosts along with India — a demand that had already been rejected by the ICC.
“While our cricketers have worked hard to qualify for the World Cup, the security risk regarding playing in India remains unchanged. This concern is not based on abstract analysis. It comes from a very real incident in which the Indian board failed to provide security to one of our top players due to pressure from extremists and he was asked to leave India,” Nazrul said.
He was referring to the BCCI asking Kolkata Knight Riders earlier this month to eject Bangladesh seamer Mustafizur Rahman from its squad for the next IPL, citing “recent developments”, which is believed to be a reference to the domestic turmoil across the border.
“It is crucial to weigh the loss of not playing against the potential catastrophe of pushing players, fans, and journalists into a risky regional political situation. This is a government decision, as the state is responsible for determining whether its citizens face security risks abroad,” Nazrul said.
“We are not convinced that they can ensure the safety of our entire team, journalists, and spectators. We are not giving up hope yet; our team is ready. We expect the ICC to provide justice by considering our genuine security risks and allowing us to play in Sri Lanka,” he said.
According to the original schedule, Bangladesh was slated to play three matches of Group C in Kolkata, including the opening game against West Indies (February 7), and against Italy (February 9) and England (February 14). Its last group was to be held on February 17 against Nepal in Mumbai.
BCB chief Aminul said they will “try again to convince the ICC and look for other ways to play the tournament”. “If ICC fails to accommodate us, it will be a significant loss to world cricket and failure for the host country. We are still trying so that our boys can play in the World Cup. We are ready to play the World Cup but not in India but in Sri Lanka. Our team is ready,” he said.
Asked about the ICC’s ultimatum, Aminul said, “A world organisation can’t do that. We’ll keep fighting.”
On Wednesday, the governing body led by chairman Jay Shah took the opinion of its Board where, apart from Bangladesh and Pakistan, everyone voted in favour of a replacement — Scotland — if the BCB didn’t agree to the original itinerary.
“The decision was taken after considering all security assessments conducted, including independent reviews, all of which indicated there was no threat to Bangladesh players, media persons, officials and fans at any of the tournament venues in India,” the ICC had said in a press release.
The ICC Board noted that it was not feasible to make changes so close to the tournament and that altering the schedule under the circumstances, in the absence of any credible security threat, could set a precedent that would jeopardise the sanctity of future ICC events and undermine its neutrality.
Nazrul, meanwhile, claimed that the ICC didn’t try to convince them. “They didn’t call the Mustafizur incident an isolated incident. They didn’t say sorry about it or even try to communicate with us. So there’s no scope for changing our decision,” he said.
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