The ICC will speak with the Bangladesh Cricket Board on Tuesday, trying to untangle Bangladesh’s refusal to play its 2026 T20 World Cup group matches in India. The board’s stance, laid out in a weekend letter, cites the “safety and well-being” of players and staff and asks the ICC to “consider” moving the fixtures “outside” India.
Bangladesh are drawn in Group C and, under the published schedule, start against West Indies in Kolkata on 7 February, face Italy two days later at the same venue, then England on 14 February. Their final group game, against Nepal, is set for Mumbai on 17 February. Sri Lanka will host the knockout stages, so only the first-round dates are in dispute.
Tension flared last week when the BCCI instructed Kolkata Knight Riders to release Mustafizur Rahman from their 2026 IPL squad. No reason was offered publicly. The left-arm quick had cost KKR INR 9.2 crore (about US$1.02 million) at December’s auction. With no IPL governing-council meeting since then, franchises and agents are still guessing who signed off the decision.
In Dhaka, the BCB says it is acting on government “advice” concerning the “safety and security of Bangladesh citizens” in India under the current “prevailing situation”. Notably, Bangladesh’s government has issued neither a travel ban nor a formal advisory, but board directors believe the warning is strong enough to press pause. One senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity, admitted the move was “precautionary rather than punitive”, adding that relations with the BCCI “need cooling, not heating”.
The ICC has yet to comment publicly. Chairman Jay Shah and other executives were at the BCCI’s Mumbai headquarters on Monday assessing options. Shifting venues mid-tournament would be a logistical headache: broadcast contracts, ticket allocations and city-based police clearances are all locked in months ahead. A compromise—perhaps staging Bangladesh’s matches in neutral Colombo during the Indian leg—has been floated, but nothing is on the table formally.
Inside the BCB, only a tight group—president Aminul Islam, chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury and two directors—has been empowered to handle talks. “We don’t want thirty voices shouting,” said an official close to the discussions. “If the ICC offers guarantees that satisfy the government, the team will travel. Until then, we wait.”
From the players’ side there is frustration but also pragmatism. A member of the current squad told local reporters, “We’re preparing for the tournament as normal. Where we play is above our pay grade.” Team management has avoided public comment, mindful of the political cross-fire.
For now, the calendar remains unchanged. The ICC call on Tuesday should give a first indication of how hard each party will dig in. Past stand-offs—Sri Lanka’s temporary refusal to tour Pakistan in 2017 springs to mind—were resolved through enhanced security protocols and government-to-government assurances. Whether the same template can be applied here will become clearer in the coming days.
