Bangladesh risk being thrown out of the upcoming T20 World Cup, starting on February 7, after the ICC Board overwhelmingly decided not to change the schedule of the tournament.
It is learnt that if the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) still stick to its stand of not sending the team to India, Bangladesh would be replaced by another team, likely Scotland, in Group C. The BCB have 24 hours to decide.
At the ICC Board meeting on Wednesday, attended by the directors of all Full Member countries, along with the ICC chair Jay Shah and CEO Sanjog Gupta, the matter was put to vote, where the majority of the Board decided in favour of having a replacement, should Bangladesh refuse to budge. The only vote in support of Bangladesh came from Pakistan.
Earlier, the BCB had sent a couple of letters to the world body, asking to move Bangladesh’s matches out of India, and even proposing a group swap, citing “security” reasons. The BCB did it in the wake of Mustafizur Rahman’s removal from the IPL, but the ICC’s security assessment found “nil to negligible” threats at the Indian venues.
After the Board meeting, the ICC put out a press release that said: “The International Cricket Council (ICC) today confirmed that the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup will proceed as scheduled with Bangladesh’s matches to be played in India.
“The decision was taken following an ICC Board meeting (via video-conference) convened to discuss the way forward after the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) sought its matches be moved to Sri Lanka.
“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 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 ICC management also engaged in a series of correspondences and meetings with the BCB in a bid to resolve the impasse, sharing detailed information on the event security plan, including layered federal and state law-enforcement support.”
An ICC spokesperson added: “Over the past several weeks, the ICC has engaged with the BCB in sustained and constructive dialogue, with the clear objective of enabling Bangladesh’s participation in the tournament. During this period, the ICC has shared detailed inputs, including independent security assessments, comprehensive venue-level security plans and formal assurances from the host authorities, all of which consistently concluded that there is no credible or verifiable threat to the safety or security of the Bangladesh team in India.
“Despite these efforts, the BCB maintained its position, repeatedly linking its participation in the tournament to a single, isolated and unrelated development concerning one of its player’s involvement in a domestic league. This linkage has no bearing on the tournament’s security framework or the conditions governing participation in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
“The ICC’s venue and scheduling decisions are guided by objective threat assessments, host guarantees, and the tournament’s agreed terms of participation, which apply uniformly to all 20 competing nations. In the absence of any independent security findings that materially compromise the safety of the Bangladesh team, the ICC is unable to relocate fixtures. Doing so would carry significant logistical and scheduling consequences for other teams and fans worldwide, and would also create far-reaching precedent-related challenges that risk undermining the neutrality, fairness, and integrity of ICC governance.
“The ICC remains committed to acting in good faith, upholding consistent standards, and safeguarding the collective interests of the global game.”
Follow Revsportz for latest sports news
