Bangladesh Refuses India Travel for T20 World Cup 2026, Insists on Sri Lanka Matches Despite ICC Deadline
Bangladesh has reaffirmed its decision not to travel to India for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2026, maintaining its demand to play matches in Sri Lanka, the tournament’s co-host alongside India. This comes a day after the ICC issued a 24-hour ultimatum to the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) to reverse its position, while keeping the tournament schedule unchanged. The tournament is set to begin on February 7.
The BCB convened a meeting in Dhaka on Thursday (January 22) to discuss the ICC’s decision and emerged with its original stance intact.
IS BANGLADESH COMING TO INDIA FOR 2026 T20 WORLD CUP?
“We will go back to the ICC with our plan to play in Sri Lanka. They did give us a 24 hour ultimatum but a global body can’t really do that. ICC will miss out on 200 million people watching the World Cup. It will be their loss … ICC is calling Sri Lanka co-hosts. They are not co-hosts. It is a hybrid model. Some of the things I heard in the ICC meeting was shocking,” said BCB president Aminul Islam while addressing the press after meeting with the country’s cricketers and government’s sports advisor Asif Nazrul.
WHERE IS BANGLADESH SCHEDULED TO PLAY IN INDIA DURING 2026 T20 WORLD CUP?
Bangladesh are placed in Group C alongside England, Italy, Nepal, and West Indies. Their first three group matches are scheduled in Kolkata on February 7 (vs West Indies), February 9 (vs Italy) and February 14 (vs England), with the final group match in Mumbai on February 17 (vs Nepal).
WHY BANGLADESH ARE NOT COMING TO INDIA FOR T20 WORLD CUP 2026?
The controversy began when Bangladesh bowler Mustafizur Rahman was released from the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) squad of IPL 2026. He was purchased by the team for INR 9.2 crore at the IPL 2026 auction and was the only player from the country bought at the auction. Immediately after, Bangladesh suspended the broadcast of the league in the country for an indefinite period and requested the ICC to relocate its matches from India to Sri Lanka.