The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Mithun Manhas reportedly ignored a question on the India-Bangladesh cricket relations. Bangladesh have opted out of the T20 World Cup 2026.
The BCB requested International Cricket Council (ICC) to move all their World Cup matches from India to Sri Lanka citing security threat to their national cricket team following pacer Mustafizur Rahman’s exit from the Indian Premier League (IPL). Rahman was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for INR 9.2 crore in IPL mini-auction.
“We will continue to communicate with the ICC. We want to play the World Cup, but we won’t play in India. We will keep fighting. There were some shocking calls in the ICC Board Meeting. The Mustafizur issue is not an isolated single issue. They (India) were the sole decision makers in that issue,” said Bangladesh Cricket Board President Aminul Islam Bulbul.
#WATCH | Chhattisgarh: BCCI President Mithun Manhas reaches Raipur airport.
He says, “I have come here for the second T20 match between India and New Zealand in Raipur.” pic.twitter.com/0RYAd9ji2k
— ANI (@ANI) January 22, 2026
“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,” BCB presiden further added.
On Wednesday, 21 January, Jay Shah-led ICC rejected BCB’s request. “The ICC Board noted that relocating matches under the present circumstances could jeopardise the sanctity of ICC events and undermine the organisation’s neutrality as a global governing body,” the ICC said in a statement.
Also Read: Bangladesh To Boycott T20 World Cup 2026, Adamant On Not Playing Matches In India
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