The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has decided not to travel to India for the T20 World Cup 2026 following a meeting with the government’s sports advisor in Dhaka on Thursday (January 22). According to Bangladesh Cricket Board president Aminul Islam, BCB will go back to the International Cricket Council (ICC) with their plan to play Group C matches in Sri Lanka.
“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 were shocking,” BCB president Aminul Islam said.
According to Bangladesh government sports adviser Asif Nazrul, Bangladesh is hopeful about the ICC giving them the opportunity to play their T20 World Cup 2026 matches in Sri Lanka.
“We are hopeful that ICC will give us the opportunity to play in Sri Lanka. It is our government who has decided not to go to India,” government sports adviser Asif Nazrul said.
According to ICC’s schedule for T20 World Cup 2026, Bangladesh will play their first three Group C matches against West Indies, Italy and England on February 7, 9 and 14, respectively, at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, whereas their last Group C match against Nepal is scheduled at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on February 17.
