Bangladesh's plea SHOT DOWN by ICC; to play all their games in India as T20 World Cup 2026 to go as per schedule

Bangladesh are placed in Group C in ICC T20 World Cup 2026.

For the last few weeks, the Bangladesh Cricket Team’s participation in ICC T20 World Cup 2026 has been the talk of the town in the cricket fraternity. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) requested the International Cricket Council to move their matches out of India due to security reasons amid the political tensions between two nations.

BCB took the decision after their pacer Mustafizur Rahman was released by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) ahead of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026. The three-time champions picked the left-arm pacer for a price of INR 9.20 crore in the IPL 2026 auction in December.

However, amid the recent violence against Indian communities in Bangladesh, Rahman’s addition to IPL 2026 became a hot topic of discussion among Indian cricket fans. In a move to respect the sentiments of fans, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) instructed KKR to release Rahman from their squad.

However, the move did not go well with BCB as they didn’t find BCCI’s action justified. As a result, they decided that they will not send their players to India for ICC T20 World Cup 2026. They made a formal request for the same and urged ICC to relocate their matches out of India to Sri Lanka.

ICC rejects Bangladesh’s plea to relocate their matches

On Wednesday, January 21, the International Cricket Council (ICC) rejected Bangladesh’s request to shift their games out of India. In an official statement, ICC informed that the decision was taken after considering all security arrangements in India. The statement also added that Bangladesh players do not have any threat while playing in India.

“The decision was taken after considering all security assessments conducted, including independent reviews, all of which indicated there was no threat to Bangladesh players, media persons, officials and fans at any of the tournament venues in India,” the statement said.

“The decision was taken after considering all security assessments conducted, including independent reviews, all of which indicated there was no threat to Bangladesh players, media persons, officials and fans at any of the tournament venues in India,” it added.

The governing body also noted that it was not feasible for them to make last-minute changes to the schedule of the tournament.

“The ICC Board noted that it was not feasible to make changes so close to the tournament and that altering the schedule under the circumstances, in the absence of any credible security threat, could set a precedent that would jeopardise the sanctity of future ICC events and undermine its neutrality as a global governing body,” the statement further added.

Only Pakistan voted in Bangladesh’s favour – Reports

According to a report by Cricbuzz, ICC officials conducted a final meeting with the Bangladesh Cricket Board on Wednesday, January 21. In the meeting, they rejected Bangladesh’s plea to shift their matches out of India. The meeting was attended by all 16 ICC members part of T20 World Cup.

ICC conducted a formal voting process on the matter. Except for Pakistan, all others voted against Bangladesh’s request. They denied making any changes to the schedule and agreed to replace Bangladesh with another team.

If Bangladesh had refuse to travel to India, they would have been replaced by Scotland in the tournament. Since the start, ICC has maintained that Bangladesh should play in India.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh are placed in Group C in T20 World Cup 2026 alongside West Indies, England, Nepal and Italy. They will play their first three matches in Kolkata (Eden Gardens), followed by the last game in Mumbai (Wankhede Stadium).

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