The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Aminul Islam hoped for a "miracle" and will approach to the country's government one last time as far as their T20 World Cup 2026 participation is concerned after the International Cricket Council (ICC) rejected their plea for a venue change.
BCB had requested ICC to shift their T20 World Cup 2026 matches out of India owning to security concerns which was in protest against Mustafizur Rahman's unceremonious removal from the Indian Premier League. The T20 World Cup 2026 starts on February 7.
Assuring “no threat to Bangladesh players, media persons, officials and fans” at the T20 Word Cup 2026 in India, the ICC cited logistical nightmares behind rejecting BCB's request. “It was not feasible to make changes so close to the tournament,” said ICC in a statement.
The ICC's decision came in after a virtual meeting and voting process which was attended by the board directors off all the full member nations and the apex body top brass. Islam was also present at the meeting.
Reacting after ICC's decision, Islam said "I am hoping for a miracle from the ICC. Who doesn't want to play the World Cup? The meeting went on for an hour and a half. We explained to the ICC board the reasons for our decision before the voting began. We didn't want to go into voting. We stepped back," Islam, who played 13 Tests and 39 ODIs for Bangladesh, was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.
After Ireland, Sri Lanka refuse BCB's swap teams idea
After BCB's email to ICC, the world body had a couple of meetings with the Bangladesh board but the latter stayed firm on their stance. The BCB even suggested to switch groups but Ireland and Sri Lanka refused. While Ireland had refused earlier, Sri Lanka Cricket on Wednesday became the latest full member to oppose such a move.
Reiterating India won't be a safe place for Bangladesh to play, Islam asked for a day's time to announce their final decision. "The Bangladesh government wants Bangladesh to play the World Cup. But we don't think India is safe for our players," Islam said.
“After the vote, I told them that I want one last chance to tell my government. They said it's a valid point, and gave me 24 or 48 hours to get back to them. I don't want to put pressure on the government. We know that India is not secure for us. We remain in the stance that we want to play in Sri Lanka. I know the ICC denied us, but we will talk to the government one more time,” he added.
