T20 World Cup: Bangladesh Out, Refuses to Send its Team to India to Play Matches, Scotland Likely Replacement
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Jan 22: Bangladesh is out of the T20 Cricket World Cup to be played in India and Sri Lanka from February 7 and in its place Scotland is likely to figure in the tournament.
The Bangladesh government on Thursday announced that it would not send its national team to play matches in India due to security concern after the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday rejected the demands of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) to shift the Bangladesh matches from India where it is scheduled to play four matches in the round robin league, three in Kolkata and one in Mumbai.
The decision not to play matches in India was finally taken after the Youth and Sports advisor Asif Nazrul held a meeting with the national team players apprising them about the ICC’s stand rejecting the BCB’s demand. The ICC had on Wednesday rejected the demand after its board meeting in which only two member boards, Bangladesh and Pakistan, supported the shifting demand while all the remaining 10 members opposed any change in the schedule at this late stage. The BCB was given a 24-hour ultimatum: either agree to travel to India or risk replacement, as the ICC maintained there was no credible threat to the safety of their players, officials, or fans in India.
“The ICC Board noted that relocating matches under the present circumstances could jeopardise the sanctity of ICC events and undermine the organisation’s neutrality as a global governing body,” the ICC said in a statement. According to the ICC, the Board reviewed multiple security assessments, including independent evaluations, all of which concluded that there was no credible threat to Bangladesh players.
Mr Nazrul told a press conference that the ICC did not do justice by not shifting the league matches of the Bangladesh cricket team to Sri Lanka despite requests by the BCB. “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,” Mr Nazrul said.
“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. 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,” the BCB President Aminul Islam Bulbul said.
“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. He said the e board still “expects to play the matches in Sri Lanka and will continue the fight.”
Mr Nazrul said, “We all want to play the World Cup. The security issue remains intact for our players and contingent in India. It started with one player getting kicked out. ICC can say whatever they want, that there’s no security concern. But our player has been kicked out of their tournament. That country is hosting the World Cup. What has changed since then? If Mustafizur can’t be provided security, how can we be convinced that ICC will give security?” he said.
However, he remained coy when asked about what communication he had with the players on Thursday afternoon. He did not divulge details, only revealing that players have been told that they won’t be travelling to India. “Whatever I communicate to players is a private communication. I won’t say anything they told us. The purpose of the meeting was to know what they want. I don’t want to put our players at risk,” he said.
The latest development effectively paves the way for Scotland to play the T20 World Cup. Bangladesh raised security concerns after pacer Mustafizur Rahman was ousted from the Indian Premier League on BCCI’s instructions for unspecified “developments all around.”
Ever since the BCCI and KKR removed Mustafizur Rahman from the IPL, the BCB has been adamant in its stance of not travelling to India for the World Cup, demanding that the world body shift the Group C matches to Sri Lanka. There was back-and-forth between the BCB and ICC on multiple occasions, culminating in the Jay Shah-led body putting its foot down and refusing to change the venue for Bangladesh’s Group C matches.
The ICC was clear in its communication to the BCB on Wednesday evening, stating that if they decide not to travel, they would be replaced by the next-best-ranked team in Group C, which is likely to be Scotland.
