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Bangladesh Cricket Board denies receiving a January 21 deadline from ICC to make your mind up on 2026 T20 World Cup participation in India.
Bangladesh players (AFP Photo)
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has denied being given a January 21 ‘deadline’ to make your mind up on traveling to India for the 2026 T20 World Cup. Reports on Monday had claimed that the International Cricket Council (ICC), in its delegation’s visit to Bangladesh, had given the board an ultimatum to either comply with the finalised schedule or lose its place within the tournament to Scotland, the subsequent best side within the rankings.
The BCB and ICC have been in an impasse over the difficulty for the past three weeks. The BCB doesn’t want the Bangladesh team to travel to India attributable to ‘security’ concerns, following the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) directive to the Kolkata Knight Riders to release Mustafizur Rahman from their IPL 2026 squad.
The ICC has rejected the concept there’s any specific threat to Rahman or Bangladesh, reaffirming that the schedule or venues can’t be modified with only a number of days left for the World Cup’s opening on February 7. BCB director Amzad Hossain said the board maintained its position within the ICC meeting.
“Last Saturday, January 17, an ICC representative got here,” Hossain said. “A gathering was held with a delegation from our cricket board. There, we clearly conveyed our position regarding the World Cup participation and informed them that we’re unable to play at the required venue, and we requested another venue. An in depth discussion took place with their representative. At the moment, they told us that they might inform the ICC about these matters and later communicate the choice to us. Nevertheless, they didn’t mention any specific date or timeline for after they would inform us, only that they might tell us the subsequent date,” he added.
Bangladesh are scheduled to play three group stage matches in Kolkata and a fourth in Mumbai. The BCB is reported to have suggested a bunch switch with Ireland, who play all their matches in Sri Lanka, however the ICC have rejected it.
January 20, 2026, 08:15 IST
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