![Bangladesh team [Source: @sumir_pathak/x]](https://onecricketnews.akamaized.net/parth-editor/oc-dashboard/news-images-prod/1768220674538_Bangladeshteam.jpg?type=hq)
Bangladesh team [Source: @sumir_pathak/x]
Bangladesh’s Youth and Sports Adviser Asif Nazrul has claimed that the International Cricket Council (ICC) has already conducted a security assessment of the upcoming 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup for the Bangladesh cricket team. Nazrul also stated that the ICC assessment has ruled in favour of Bangladesh, in regards to the BCB’s security concerns of playing their T20 World Cup matches in India.
Earlier this month, the BCB and the Bangladesh government refused to send the Bangladesh team to India for the 2026 T20 World Cup in February, and urged the ICC to relocate their share of matches to Sri Lanka instead.
ICC rules in favour of Bangladesh over India travel
While speaking at a press conference, Bangladesh’s Youth and Sports Adviser Asif Nazrul stated that the ICC’s security team has sent a letter to the BCB, which includes a detailed report regarding Bangladesh’s security concerns of playing matches in India amidst the prevailing geo-political tensions between the two countries.
Nazrul even claimed that the ICC has backed BCB’s concerns, thus signifying the Bangladesh team’s security risks of playing in India. Moreover, he added that the Bangladesh government will be unveiling the ICC letter in due time.
Asif Nazrul further addressed ICC cricket department’s latest information of possibly shifting Bangladesh’s T20 World Cup 2026 matches from Kolkata and Mumbai to Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram. The Bangladeshi official unequivocally rejected the possibility by claiming that alternate Indian venues are still Indian venues.
He said, “If the venue is changed from Kolkata to somewhere else, that does not solve the problem. India remains India.”
India-Bangladesh cricketing ties worsen ahead of T20 World Cup 2026
In light of the prevailing geo-political crisis between the two countries, the BCCI instructed the KKR franchise to expel fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman from their IPL 2026 squad. The decision drew a widespread outrage in Bangladesh, with both the BCB and the Bangladeshi government calling for an India boycott ahead of next month’s T20 World Cup 2026.
As of now, the ICC is yet to make an official statement or agree to Bangladesh’s plea of shifting T20 World Cup 2026 matches to Sri Lanka.
