Bangladesh is not going to play T20 World Cup video games in India over security issues | Cricket News

Bangladesh is not going to play its T20 World Cup 2026 fixtures in India over issues in regards to the gamers’ security, following the elimination of a prime Bangladeshi participant from the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) mentioned.

Amid rising political pressure between the South Asian neighbours, the BCB requested the International Cricket Council (ICC) to maneuver its video games to Sri Lanka and sought readability on quick bowler Mustafizur Rahman’s abrupt elimination from the IPL, the board mentioned in an announcement on Sunday.

The BCB board of administrators met in an emergency assembly following Mustafizur’s launch from the IPL and confirmed its choice shortly afterwards.

“Following a thorough assessment of the prevailing situation and the growing concerns regarding the safety and security of the Bangladesh contingent in India and considering the advice from the Bangladesh Government, the board of directors resolved that the Bangladesh national team will not travel to India for the tournament under the current conditions,” it mentioned.

“The board believes that such a step is necessary to safeguard the safety and wellbeing of Bangladeshi players, team officials, Board members and other stakeholders and to ensure that the team can participate in the tournament in a secure and appropriate environment,” the assertion added and urged the ICC to take swift motion.

Earlier on Saturday, Bangladesh’s sports activities adviser Asif Nazrul condemned the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) choice to launch Mustafizur.

“The board should inform that where a Bangladeshi cricketer cannot play in India despite being contracted, the entire Bangladeshi cricket team cannot feel safe going to play in the World Cup,” Nazrul wrote in a social media publish.

He later lauded the BCB’s choice to hunt relocation of its matches to Sri Lanka.

“We welcome this decision taken in the context of ‍the extreme communal ⁠policy of India’s cricket board,” he mentioned.

“We will not accept any insult to Bangladeshi cricket, cricketers and Bangladesh under any circumstances. The days of slavery are over.”

Defending champions India and 2014 winners Sri Lanka will cohost the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 from February 7 to March 8.

Bangladesh are scheduled to play all their group-stage matches in India, with three fixtures allotted to Eden Gardens in Kolkata – on February 7, 9 and 14 – and one to the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on February 17.

Should the ICC – headed by former BCCI chief Jay Shah – contemplate the BCB’s request, Bangladesh will change into the second nation to have its video games moved out of India.

Sri Lanka will host all of Pakistan’s matches because the 2009 champions is not going to journey to India in an ICC-brokered settlement that enables the bitter rivals to keep away from travelling throughout their mutual border.

Earlier on Saturday, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) confirmed that Mustafizur had been launched from the franchise’s squad for IPL 2026 after the BCCI suggested it to take action, and the transfer was confirmed by the Indian cricket board’s secretary, Devajit Saikia.

“Due to the recent developments which are going on all across, BCCI has instructed the franchise KKR to release one of their players, Mustafizur Rahman of Bangladesh, from their squad, and BCCI has also said that if they ask for any replacement, BCCI is going to allow that replacement,” Saikia instructed Indian information company ANI.

Political pressure spills over into sport

The ongoing tensions between India and Bangladesh have flared in latest weeks after a 25-year-old Hindu man was lynched and burned publicly in Bangladesh following allegations of blasphemy.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs final month condemned what it known as “unremitting hostility against minorities”.

A number of days later, Hindutva activists tried to storm the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi as they rallied towards the neighbouring nation for failing to guard its Hindu minorities.

Bangladesh’s interim chief, Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, condemned the lynching, saying there isn’t any area for such violence within the new Bangladesh.

“The perpetrators of this heinous crime will not be spared,” his workplace mentioned in an announcement. Two days later, 12 folks have been arrested in reference to the lynching, The Daily Star newspaper reported.

Last week, Bangladesh expressed concern over latest incidents of violence and killings involving minority communities in India, urging the authorities there to hold out neutral investigations and convey these accountable to justice.

“We expect the relevant authorities in India to conduct impartial investigations into these incidents and ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson SM Mahbubul Alam mentioned.

Diplomatic relations between the once-close allies have been sharply examined since August final yr, when former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled to New Delhi from Dhaka after an rebellion towards her rule.

Bangladesh blames India for a few of its troubles, together with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s help for Hasina when she was in energy.

Political tensions have spilled over into sport in latest months, with the Bangladeshi girls’s cricket staff’s latest tour of India postponed indefinitely, and the Indian males’s staff’s tour of Bangladesh assembly the identical destiny in August.

The BCCI’s transfer to have Mustafizur faraway from the IPL has met with backlash in Bangladesh, the place the favored franchise league could face a blackout.

Bangladeshi authorities official Nazrul mentioned he had requested the nationwide broadcasting physique to “stop broadcasting of IPL tournament in Bangladesh”.