ICC rejects Bangladesh request to shift T20 World Cup 2026 matches from India

New Delhi: The ICC has dealt a major blow to the Bangladesh Cricket Board. The board had requested the ICC to shift its T20 World Cup 2026 matches outside India. The ICC has rejected this request. The ICC stated that it has no information indicating any threat to the Bangladesh team in India. An online meeting was held between ICC officials and the BCCB on Tuesday.

Bangladesh Risks Losing Points

According to a Cricbuzz report, in this meeting, the ICC informed the Bangladesh Cricket Board that it has no information indicating any specific or credible threat to the Bangladesh team while playing in India. Therefore, there is no basis for changing the tournament schedule or venues. On the other hand, an ESPNcricinfo report states that the ICC told the BCB that it is rejecting the request to change the venue. Bangladesh will have to go to India to play the tournament, otherwise, they risk losing points. However, the BCB has denied receiving any such ultimatum. An official statement from the ICC is still awaited.

All of Bangladesh's Group Matches in India

Bangladesh is scheduled to play all four of its group stage matches in the T20 World Cup 2026 in India. Three of their matches are at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, while one match is to be played at the Wankhede Stadium. The Bangladesh Cricket Board held an emergency meeting on January 4th. In that meeting, the board formally sent an email to the ICC requesting that their matches be held outside India. According to the board, they did this keeping in mind the safety of the Bangladeshi players, team officials, board members, and other stakeholders. This whole controversy began when the BCCI barred Bangladeshi cricketer Mustafizur Rahman from participating in the IPL 2026. He had been bought by KKR for 9.2 crore rupees. There was opposition in India to Mustafizur playing due to the atrocities being committed against Hindus in Bangladesh.