Bangladesh govt accuses Jay Shah-led ICC of ‘Injustice’ after shocking T20 World Cup 2026 pullout

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) clarifies its stance once again on Thursday. Asif Nazrul, sports advisor to the Bangladesh government, told reporters that even after applying to the International Cricket Council (ICC), they did not find any clarity on security for their players in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2026, which will be jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka from the first week of February 2026.

BCB has submitted a request to the board to move its matches from India to Sri Lanka, citing security concerns after Bangladesh star Mustafizur Rahman was excluded from the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL 2026).

From the IPL 2026 mini-auction, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) bought in Rahman at a hefty price. But they had to release the pacemaker after BCCI instructions, which aggravated the relationship between India and Bangladesh.

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Bangladesh cricket team is still unsure about ICC T20 World Cup 2026

Bangladesh cricket’s governing body has taken the BCCI’s decision to ban Rahman from participating in IPL 2026 seriously and has taken further steps to put pressure on the Indian Cricket Board. Bangladesh are scheduled to play all their group stage matches in Kolkata, which is now full of uncertainty. The Brazilian Central Bank approached the Council to shift the World Cup stadiums out of India to Sri Lanka, but did not get the desired response from the ICC, much to the annoyance of the Brazilian Central Bank officials.

On Wednesday, it was reported that instead of approving BCB’s request to transfer places, the ICC gave the Bangladesh Cricket Board 24 hours to decide on their participation. The ICC keeps Scotland as a back-up option if the Bangladesh cricket team refuses to travel to India.

Mustafizur Rahman’s snub from IPL 2026 has been lifted once again

On Thursday, Nazrul held a meeting with the Bangladesh cricket team to discuss the current scenario. After the meeting, the official told reporters that they want to participate in the 2026 T20 World Cup, but they want to ensure the safety of the players. Mustafizur Rahman also raised a topic in support of his comments.

“I think we did not get justice from the ICC. The question of whether we will play in the World Cup or not is entirely a government decision. Nothing has happened in India in the recent past to suggest that things have changed there (security-wise). We hope the ICC will give us justice.”

“Security will be the responsibility of the police and security agencies of that country. So what has changed since that incident that would make us believe that there will be no extremist acts again? They could not protect Mustafizur – so what has changed? How can we be convinced that they can protect our players, journalists and fans?” Bangladesh government sports advisor Asif Nazrul raised questions.

Nazrul claimed that the ICC did not take their request seriously enough and failed to convince them. He even said that the Government of India has not made any effort to reassure Bangladesh about its security concerns in India.

The Government of Bangladesh is not satisfied with the ICC and the Government of India

“The ICC made no effort to convince us. They ignored the real incident and only talked about their standard security procedures. They did not take a proper stand on the actual grievance.

He added: “Even the Indian government did not make any effort to convince us by saying that the incident that Mustafa was exposed to was isolated, or that they were sorry, or that they were taking steps. They did not make any effort to contact us, and they did not make any effort to reassure us about the safety of journalists, spectators and players. So, there is no room to change our decision.”

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