The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has formally requested the International Cricket Council (ICC) to relocate Bangladesh’s World Cup matches from India due to serious security concerns. However, the ICC has made it clear that participation in the tournament will require playing in India, issuing a 24-hour ultimatum to BCB President Aminul Islam Bulbul to confirm their decision.
On Thursday (January 22), Youth and Sports Adviser Asif Nazrul held a meeting with players included in the World Cup squad. Following the discussion, he announced that Bangladesh would not travel to India to play the World Cup under the current circumstances, expressing dissatisfaction with the ICC’s handling of the situation.
“We have not received fair treatment from the ICC,” Asif Nazrul stated. “We hope the ICC will seriously consider our security concerns and approve our request to play the matches in Sri Lanka instead.”
Highlighting that the security issue is real and not hypothetical, he added, “The safety of one of our top cricketers, Mustafizur Rahman, could not be ensured. This raises serious questions about how the safety of players, journalists, and spectators can be guaranteed.”
BCB President Aminul Islam Bulbul confirmed that the board would make another formal appeal to the ICC. “We will contact the ICC again. Our position is clear—we do not want to play in India and prefer Sri Lanka as the venue,” he said.
The standoff has created uncertainty around Bangladesh’s participation in the upcoming World Cup and has sparked widespread discussion across the global cricketing community.