ICC may impose sanctions if Bangladesh withdraws from T20 World Cup 2026

New Delhi: Hindus in Bangladesh are facing severe persecution and violence. Reports of Hindus being killed in Bangladesh are surfacing almost daily. This has also affected relations between India and Bangladesh. Recently, in the IPL 2026 mini-auction, Kolkata Knight Riders bought Bangladeshi fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman.

However, due to the violence against Hindus in Bangladesh, the public heavily criticized KKR and its owner Shah Rukh Khan. Following this, the BCCI ordered the franchise to release the Bangladeshi player. Subsequently, Kolkata released Mustafizur Rahman.

Now, a major controversy has erupted. The T20 World Cup is also scheduled to be held in India and Sri Lanka next month. Bangladesh is supposed to travel to India for the World Cup. However, after Mustafizur Rahman's release from the IPL, Bangladesh has taken a major decision. They have refused to travel to India for the World Cup. Bangladesh wants their World Cup matches to be shifted to Sri Lanka. They have also discussed this with the ICC. Let's see what steps the ICC can take in this matter.

What steps can the ICC take?

The ICC can consider Bangladesh's request and shift all their matches to Sri Lanka. However, if the ICC does not do this and Bangladesh refuses to travel to India for their World Cup matches, they could face consequences. If Bangladesh does not travel to India for their matches, the opposing team could be awarded the points for those matches.

This has happened before. In the 1996 World Cup, Australia and West Indies refused to play matches in Sri Lanka due to security concerns. In those instances, the opposing teams were awarded points. In the 2003 World Cup, New Zealand and England forfeited their matches against Kenya and Zimbabwe, respectively. In those cases too, the opposing teams received points.

What would happen if Bangladesh withdraws from the T20 World Cup?

If Bangladesh decides to withdraw from the T20 World Cup, another team could be included in their place. This happened in the 2016 Under-19 World Cup. Australia refused to travel to Bangladesh, so Ireland was included in their place. However, Bangladesh has not yet decided to withdraw from the T20 World Cup, and it remains to be seen what the ICC would do if Bangladesh were to withdraw.