The International Cricket Council (ICC) has rejected Bangladesh Cricket Board’s (BCB) request to relocate their matches from India to Sri Lanka for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2026.
During a virtual call on Tuesday, Jay Shah-led ICC informed BCB that it was rejecting the latter’s request to shift Bangladesh’s matches outside India due to security concerns.
“The ICC have told the BCB that their senior men’s national cricket team will need to travel to India to play their T20 World Cup matches or risk forfeiting points,” a source was quoted as saying.
Neither ICC nor BCB has issued an official statement on the outcome of Tuesday’s call. The virtual call was arranged after BCB wrote requesting to consider moving Bangladesh’s matches to Sri Lanka in the T20 World Cup 2026.
The BCB is upset over pacer Mustafizur Rahman’s release from Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) squad for this season’s Indian Premier League (IPL) campaign. It has also decided to ban IPL telecast in the country. KKR released Mustafizur from their squad following the directive issued by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
On January 3, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia confirmed that the board ordered the three-time IPL champions to release the 30-year-old left-arm pacer from their squad despite picking him for Rs 9.20 crore in the mini auction held in Abu Dhabi.
The T20 World Cup will be jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka this year, running from February 7 to March 8. Drawn in Group C, Bangladesh will kick off their campaign with three consecutive matches in Kolkata — against the West Indies on February 7, Italy on February 9, and England on February 14.
