DHAKA (Kashmir English): The International Cricket Council (ICC) has reportedly denied the request made by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) to move the T20 World Cup 2026 matches from India as a result of security issues.
As per the sources, during a Zoom meeting on Tuesday, ICC officials broke the news to BCB that the squad would still have to play their matches in India. The report went on to say that the ICC also pointed out that if Bangladesh did not travel, it might lose the points.
BCB has nevertheless contested that particular point, claiming that it was not given any threat regarding possible point deductions during the phone call.
The meeting took place after the BCB sent a letter to the ICC on Sunday, asking the council to “think about” relocating the World Cup matches for Bangladesh to a neutral venue outside India. To date, neither the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) nor the BCB has released a public statement that would condense the result of the meetings.
With only 26 days to go until the 20‑team tournament is set to kick off, the ICC’s position means unchanged fixtures for Bangladesh.
The T20 World Cup is taking place in India and Sri Lanka from 7 February to 8 March, and the group will be Group C. The matches as per the current itinerary are:
With no last-minute turnaround, Bangladesh will have to visit both Kolkata and Mumbai for the group stage match.
The location disagreement arose shortly after the incident involving the Bangladeshi fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman in the IPL.
The BCB was in touch with the ICC after it was reported that the BCCI had instructed the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to let Mustafizur go from their roster. BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia told reporters that such a directive had been given, but no further justification was provided.
