Bangladesh's sports advisor, Asif Nazrul, made a surprise appearance on live television and expressed his disappointment over his team's imminent exclusion from the upcoming T20 World Cup 2026. While the action was on in the final of the Bangladesh Premier League on Friday, Nazrul was in conversation with Pakistan's presenter Zainab Abbas, during which he talked about BCB's ongoing controversy with the ICC.
Nazrul, who has been vocal about Bangladesh's stand, demanding the team's matches be shifted from India to Sri Lanka, went on a rant on Live TV. He confirmed that Bangladesh stands on the verge of exclusion from the T20 WC, which kicks off on February 7. He also talked about the craze for the game of cricket in Bangladesh, also mentioning the huge number of people that was present in the stadium for the BPL final.
"Bangladeshi people love cricket, and the huge presence of the spectators is a testament to this," Nazrul said during the interview. "And this was actually much needed because, you know, quite recently Bangladesh has been on the verge of being excluded from the T20 World Cup."
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Nazrul went on to say that the Bangladesh team has the right to play in the T20 World Cup, having qualified for the tournament, but is being excluded.
"They have the right to play there, but they are being excluded," he said. "So in such a special time, the huge presence of spectators will definitely encourage Bangladesh cricket and cricketers."
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His comments came after Bangladesh players claimed that their opinion on the T20 World Cup conflict with ICC wasn't even considered by the country's government. The interim government of Bangladesh decided against travelling to India for the T20 WC matches, and the ICC is all set to replace them with Scotland in the tournament.
For Nazrul, however, the presence of Bangladesh fans in Dhaka for the BPL match was a 'message' to the global cricketing spectrum amid the current situation of chaos.
"We've got, I think, a huge presence of advisors," Nazrul said. "You can hear the sound and how popular cricket is in Bangladesh. Actually, half of the advisers who are present in Dhaka City tonight have turned up today, and it carries a special message."