Bangladesh are likely to play all their T20 World Cup 2026 matches in India. According to the schedule, Bangladesh are slated to play their World Cup matches in Kolkata and Mumbai.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had earlier said that they had requested the International Cricket Council (ICC) to shift their matches to Sri Lanka following pacer Mustafizur Rahman’s exit from the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Controversy Around Mustafizur Rahman
Mustafizur Rahman was bought by KKR for INR 9.2 Cr in the IPL 2026 mini auction but the franchise was later asked to release the pacer after attracting a lot of heat. Shah Rukh Khan also faced criticism. Hindu seer Jagadguru Rambhadracharya slammed SRK and called him traitor.
“His (Shah Rukh’s) approach has always been as that of a traitor.” Pointing to atrocities on Hindus in the neighbouring country, Jagadguru Rambhadracharya called this move of the 60-year-old Bollywood icon anti-national and said, “It is unfortunate (Shah Rukh Khan took Bangladeshi cricketer in KKR for IPL 2026), but he will do so because he is considered a hero,” he said during an interview with PTI.
“His character has always been questionable and anti-national,” he added.
“The way Hindus are being persecuted in Bangladesh, women and girls are being raped, their homes are being burned, and anti-India slogans are being chanted there. Despite all this, traitors like Shah Rukh Khan, I’m calling him a traitor because everything he has is given by India, given by the people of India, but where do they invest this money? They invest it in players from a country that is working against India,” ANI quoted Sangeet Som as saying.
Earlier, religious leaders in Ujjain had issued a stark warning to disrupt Indian Premier League (IPL) matches by damaging pitches if Mustafizur Rahman is allowed to participate. Recent incidents in Bangladesh have sparked widespread outrage.
What BCB Said?
BCB had informed ICC that the team won’t travel to India for the T20 World Cup 2026 citing security concerns in a mail, as reported by NewsX.com earlier.
“An emergency meeting of the Board of Directors of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) was held this afternoon to discuss recent developments related to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, scheduled to be hosted by India and Sri Lanka. The Board reviewed the situation in detail, taking into account developments over the last 24 hours and expressed deep concern over the overall circumstances surrounding the participation of the Bangladesh National Team in matches scheduled to be played in India,” the BCB said in a statement later.
“Following a thorough assessment of the prevailing situation and the growing concerns regarding the safety and security of the Bangladesh contingent in India and considering the advice from the Bangladesh Government, the Board of Directors resolved that the Bangladesh National Team will not travel to India for the tournament under the current conditions.”
“In light of this decision, the BCB has formally requested the International Cricket Council (ICC), as the event authority, to consider relocating all of Bangladesh’s matches to a venue outside India. The Board believes that such a step is necessary to safeguard the safety and well-being of Bangladeshi players, team officials, Board members and other stakeholders and to ensure that the team can participate in the tournament in a secure and appropriate environment. The Bangladesh Cricket Board looks forward to the ICC’s understanding of the situation and an urgent response on this matter,” it further added.
The official decision is still pending with ICC and the decision is likely to come today evening.
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