'Expect ICC To Provide Justice': Bangladesh Pulls Out Of T20 World Cup In India Over Players' Security Concerns

Bangladesh Boycott T20 World Cup 2026: Bangladesh have decided to pull out of the T20 World Cup 2026, going against the ICC's final ultimatum to decide over the possibility of travelling to India. Scotland will now enter the tournament as Bangladesh's replacement, which is scheduled be played in India and will kick off on February 7.

The much-awaited meeting took place on Thursday, January 22, in the presence of Bangladesh cricket team players as their government aimed to brief them about their position with regard to the national team's participation in the upcoming ICC Men's T20 World Cup. 

Asif Nazrul, after a meeting with national team players, announced that the ICC's position was not acceptable to them. "While our cricketers have worked hard to qualify for the World Cup, the security risk regarding playing in India remains unchanged. This concern is not based on abstract analysis," Nazrul said during a press conference on Thursday.

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"We are not giving up hope yet; our team is ready. We expect the ICC to provide justice by considering our genuine security risks and allowing us to play in Sri Lanka," he added.

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Announcing the decision, BCB President Aminul Islam Bulbul noted that the idea is to still play the marquee, but they wanted their matches to be shifted to Sri Lanka, citing security reasons. "We will continue to communicate with the ICC. We want to play the World Cup, but we won't play in India. We will keep fighting. There were some shocking calls in the ICC Board Meeting. The Mustafizur issue is not an isolated single issue. They (India) were the sole decision makers in that issue." 

"ICC had denied us our request to shift our matches away from India. We are not sure about the status of world cricket. Its popularity is going down. They have locked away 200 million people. Cricket is going to the Olympics, but if a country like us is not going there, it is ICC's failure," he added.

The country raised security concerns after their senior pacer Mustafizur Rahman was removed from the KKR's IPL 2026 squad on BCCI's instructions for unspecified "developments all around." Responding to the development, Bangladesh's interim government imposed an indefinite ban on IPL's broadcast.