DHAKA: Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on Thursday announced that its side will not travel to India to play for the ICC T20 World Cup 2026.
The BCB’s decision came a day after the game's governing body rejected the country's plea to shift its games to Sri Lanka.
"Our only demand is to play the World Cup — but not in India," BCB President Aminul Islam Bulbul told reporters, effectively ruling out their participation in the tournament.
According to the details, the cricket board took the decision after its officials met the national players and Bangladesh's Adviser for the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Asif Nazrul.
Following the meeting, Nazrul addressed the media and announced that Bangladesh's stance regarding traveling to India for the 20-team mega event, starting from February 7, remained unchanged despite the ICC deciding to dismiss their plea after a Board meeting on Wednesday.
He further stressed that the security situation in India remained unchanged and also that the concern stemmed from a "real incident".
"There is no scope to change our decision. We believe we did not get justice from the ICC. We still hope that ICC will do justice with us," Nazrul said after a meeting with Bangladesh cricketers and BCB officials.
"The security situation in India remains unchanged. Our security concerns did not materialise out of thin air. It stemmed from a real incident.
"The country [India] could not provide security for one of our cricketers. In that country, the cricket board is an extended part of the government, which either failed or was reluctant to give one of my cricketers protection when put under pressure by extremist groups," he added.
