Bangladesh’s cricket authorities are still not planning to cross the border for next year’s T20 World Cup, despite another round of talks with the International Cricket Council.
In a video call on Tuesday, senior Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) officials repeated their view that the national side should not play its four scheduled group games in Kolkata and Mumbai. The key reason, they said, remains player safety.
“During the discussions, the BCB reaffirmed its position regarding the decision not to travel to India, citing security concerns,” read part of the board’s statement. “The board also reiterated its request for the ICC to consider relocating Bangladesh’s matches outside India.” A second line from the same note underlined the point: “The BCB remains committed to safeguarding the well-being of its players, officials and staff while engaging constructively with the ICC to address the matter.”
The ICC, for its part, pointed to an independent risk report delivered on Monday. That assessment found “no specific or heightened threat” to the Bangladesh squad, assigning the usual low-to-moderate risk categorisation that applies to most international events. Such terminology rarely forces venue changes; nonetheless the BCB was not persuaded.
Why the tension now?
Relations between the two cricket boards have cooled since Kolkata Knight Riders were told to release Mustafizur Rahman ahead of the 2026 IPL season. No public explanation followed, yet the after-effects were swift: Dhaka barred local broadcasters from showing the tournament and, within days, the BCB formally asked for its World Cup games to be shifted.
Officials on Tuesday’s call included BCB president Aminul Islam, vice-presidents Shakawath Hossain and Faruque Ahmed, cricket-operations chair Nazmul Abedeen and chief executive Nizam Uddin Chowdhury. None offered further public comment, but insiders suggest the board is keen to avoid a repeat of past security scares on overseas tours—notably Pakistan in 2020—when player unease forced last-minute negotiations.
Options on the table
With the World Cup set to start on 7 February, time is tight. Possible compromises include moving Bangladesh’s pool games to Sri Lanka, the tournament’s co-host, or compressing their fixtures into a single Indian city under a security “bubble”. Either solution would require logistics, ticketing and TV schedules to be re-drawn, challenges the ICC has faced before yet rarely welcomes.
Former Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar believes a face-to-face meeting is now essential. “You can only solve this if everyone sits down together,” he told local radio on Tuesday evening, adding that players simply want clarity well before the squad assembles.
For now, both sides insist the dialogue will continue. The calendar, however, is unflinching, and Bangladesh supporters—many of whom had planned short hops to Kolkata—wait to discover whether they will cheer their team from the Eden Gardens stands or from living-room sofas.
