The T20 World Cup is set to start in over two weeks. Everything is good to go. However, there has been a snag that has hit the headlines. Bangladesh have chosen to boycott the tournament due to political tensions with India.
Also read: Political Tensions
As a result of the tensions, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) requested that their games be moved to Sri Lanka, the co-hosts of the tournament. The International Cricket Council (ICC), the governing body, has rejected that request.
The cricketing world is witnessing an unprecedented collapse of sporting diplomacy. What began as a dispute over a single player's contract has spiraled into a full-scale boycott, leaving Bangladesh on the verge of being replaced in the 2026 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. As the 7 February start date looms, the relationship between the BCB, the BCCI and the ICC has reached a point of no return.
3 January 2026: The controversy ignited when the BCCI reportedly directed the IPL side, Kolkata Knight Riders, to terminate the contract of Bangladeshi pacer, Mustafizur Rahman. Mustafizur had been a marquee signing for Rs 9.20 crore but the BCCI cited "developments all around" as the reason for his release. Coming shortly after the 2024 protests in Dhaka, the BCB viewed this not as a sporting decision but as a "targeted political insult" by the Indian board.
6 January 2026: The Bangladesh government escalated the issue into the political arena. Within 72 hours of the Mustafizur snub, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting announced an indefinite ban on the broadcast of the IPL in Bangladesh. The BCB issued a chilling warning: if a single player like Mustafizur was considered a "security liability" in India, then the entire national team's safety could not be guaranteed for the upcoming World Cup.
12 January 2026: The BCB formally wrote to the ICC requesting that its Group C matches-originally scheduled for Kolkata and Mumbai-be moved to the tournament's co-host, Sri Lanka. They cited a "hostile environment" and pointed to the fact that thousands of Bangladeshi fans were being denied Indian visas due to new travel restrictions. The BCB argued for a "Hybrid Model," similar to the 2023 Asia Cup, to ensure the tournament's inclusivity.
15 January 2026: Internal pressure began to mount. A senior BCB official, Nazmul Islam, made deprecatory remarks about the players, questioning if they should "refund the board's money" if they missed the World Cup. This sparked a player strike; two Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) matches were postponed as stars like Litton Das and Mehidy Hasan Miraz refused to take the field. While the official was later sacked, the rift between the board and the players remained.
21 January 2026: The ICC Board convened via video conference to settle the venue dispute. The result was a crushing defeat for Bangladesh. In a 14-2 vote-with only the PCB supporting Bangladesh - the ICC rejected the request to move matches. The ICC's stance was that independent security reports indicated "no credible threat" to players in India. They issued a 24-hour deadline for the BCB to confirm its travel, stating that failure to comply would result in Bangladesh being replaced by Scotland.
22 January 2026: A decisive meeting took place at a hotel in Dhaka between the national squad, BCB officials, and Youth and Sports Adviser Asif Nazrul. He emerged from the meeting firm, stating that India's inability to protect even one player (Mustafizur) in a domestic league was proof enough that the national team was at risk. He declared that "national dignity" would not be sacrificed for a tournament. In the evening, the BCB President officially confirmed that Bangladesh will not travel to India. In a final defiant statement, the board accused the ICC of "failing to provide justice" and ignoring the safety of 200 million cricket-crazy fans.
The BCB will suffer a loss of Rs 240 crore (325 crore Bangladeshi Taka, around 27 million US dollars) if they decide to boycott the T20 World Cup 2026 in India. According to a report in news agency, PTI, on Thursday (22 January), Bangladesh are adamant about not travelling to India for their T20 World Cup 2026 Group C matches and their rigid stance could also cost BCB a loss of close to BDT 325 crore (around USD 27 million) that comes from the ICC’s annual revenue.
In addition to that, the loss of broadcast revenue, sponsorship revenue and the income for the financial year could also take a massive hit, close to 60% or even more.
The cumulative effect could also mean that India may not tour Bangladesh in August-September, a series whose TV broadcast rights are equivalent to at least 10 bilateral match-ups against other nations.
A BCB source, who actively followed the happenings in Bangladesh cricket for the past three weeks, said that once Asif Nazrul, who apart from being the government sports advisor also happens to be a legal advisor, had put his foot down, there was no way that there could have been a shift in stance.
"Today, when they met Asif Nazrul, the government advisor did most of the talking with occasional comments from Bulbul Bhai. The players mostly kept quiet. The senior players feel that if someone of Tamim Iqbal’s stature could be disrespected, they could face even bigger backlash," the source told PTI.
Bulbul apparently looked crestfallen after the meeting, having not been able to convince Nazrul.
"In this situation, when we are seeing that Bangladesh may not be going to the World Cup, or that Bangladesh has been given an ultimatum, we will still try our best to play in the World Cup," Bulbul said but everyone who has watched the press conference knows that the former national skipper hardly sounded convincing."
It has been learnt that Nazrul and Bulbul have assured players that they won’t lose out on match money and it will be paid, keeping the number of games Bangladesh could have played in the tournament.
Even Bangladesh’s elite cricketers are part of their own country’s creamy layer and after a point, it is not money that drives an international sportsperson; it is the spirit of competition that matters.
Bangladesh’s ODI captain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, has slammed BCB finance committee chairman, Najmul Islam, for his recent comments. While speaking to reporters in Dhaka on Wednesday (14 January), Najmul, who was removed from his role by the BCB on Thursday evening, claimed that the BCB will not suffer any financial loss if their senior men’s cricket team opts out of the upcoming T20 World Cup 2026 but their players will face the financial hit because in case of a pull-out, they would not receive match fees.
He created controversy by adding that the BCB won't compensate the players for their loss if Bangladesh pull out of the T20 World Cup 2026. According to him, there is no point of compensation because the players aren't asked to repay money when they underperform.
His comments created a huge uproar in Bangladesh and their men’s ODI cricket team captain said that the comments by Najmul have left the dressing room “deeply disappointed".
While speaking to reporters in a press conference in Dhaka on Thursday, Mehidy said, "We always say the board is our guardian. When comments like these come from them, it is deeply disappointing for us."
"The money the board has today is the result of every match played wearing the Bangladesh jersey. It’s earned through the hard work of players. Everyone has a rightful share in it," he added.
According to the spin-bowling all-rounder, the BCB stands where it does today because players go out and play.
"We play ICC tournaments, and that’s why we are earning money. If cricket doesn’t happen, sponsors won’t come. ICC revenue won’t come either. The board stands where it does today because players go out and play," he said.
BCB president, Aminul Islam, has effectively accused the ICC of double standards, in pointing to the governing body's accommodation of India's request to play their 2025 Champions Trophy matches in the UAE instead of Pakistan, while refusing to move Bangladesh's matches in the upcoming T20 World Cup from India to Sri Lanka.
Speaking to the media in Dhaka after the Bangladesh government doubled down on its stance following a meeting between the national sports adviser, the BCB and national cricketers, Aminul said India were given the "privilege" of playing all their Champions Trophy matches at one venue - Dubai.
Bangladesh's position is that they don't want to travel to India due to security concerns. Aminul said the ICC referred the BCB to past instances of teams like Australia, West Indies, New Zealand and England forfeiting their games by refusing to play at venues during the 1996 and 2003 ODI World Cups. Aminul, however, brought up the example of the 2025 Champions Trophy.
"The ICC tried to tell us about incidents in 1996 and 2003 but we pointed out their recent steps in a similar matter," Aminul said. "When a country refused to travel to another country for the Champions Trophy last February, the ICC organised a neutral venue for them. The team played all their Champions Trophy matches in that neutral venue. They played in one ground, staying in one hotel. It was a privilege."
Aminul said he will continue to communicate with the ICC on the issue of Bangladesh's venues and participation in the 2026 T20 World Cup, but he is steadfast about not playing in India. He said he told the ICC that it could also adopt the hybrid model of letting Bangladesh play in Sri Lanka.
"We are calling Sri Lanka co-hosts but they aren't co-hosts. Sri Lanka is part of the hybrid model where one country is going to play," Aminul said. "We indicated to the ICC that since our government is reluctant (to let us play in India), we want to take that option. Still, they denied our request. We will communicate with the ICC today. We are ready to play the World Cup in Sri Lanka. We don't want to play in India."
Last year, the ICC Board, via a vote, devised a hybrid model approach for India and Pakistan matches in global tournaments in the 2024-27 cycle, starting with the 2025 Champions Trophy. It was also applied to the 2025 women's ODI World Cup, which was hosted by India while Pakistan played their matches in Sri Lanka. The 2026 T20 World Cup was always scheduled to be a co-hosted event - well before the idea of a hybrid model took root - but it was decided that any game India and Pakistan are drawn to play - a group game or a knockout - will take place in Sri Lanka.
"We are proud of Bangladesh cricket, but we are doubtful about world cricket," Aminul said. "When cricket's popularity is in decline, ICC is denying a cricket-loving country of 200 million people. Cricket is going to the Olympics in 2028. India is bidding for the Olympics and Commonwealth Games, but it will be their failure if such a country [Bangladesh] is not going to the World Cup. We are not giving up on playing the World Cup."
When asked if they were going to miss the ICC's deadline of one day to change their stance on playing in India, Aminul said: "A global organisation cannot give a deadline of 24 hours. We will keep fighting."
In a statement following the board meeting on Wednesday, the ICC had said there was no credible security threat to Bangladesh in India and that agreeing to a change in venue would set a precedent. "The ICC Board noted that it was not feasible to make changes so close to the tournament and that altering the schedule under the circumstances, in the absence of any credible security threat, could set a precedent that would jeopardise the sanctity of future ICC events and undermine its neutrality as a global governing body."
As stated above, Pakistan stand with Bangladesh. As per a Geo News report, Pakistan ‘may boycott’ the T20 World Cup is Bangladesh withdraw.
There are also conflicting reports with Telecom Asia earlier where the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) sources claimed that withdrawing from the tournament is out of the question. "Pakistan backed Bangladesh’s stance on principles because, on India’s insistence, their matches were moved out from Pakistan to Dubai, but the same reason by Bangladesh was not accepted, which is disappointing," the publication quoted sources as saying.
The report said “Pakistan is considering various options, but withdrawal from the event is never an option nor was it considered."
Senior Bangladeshi cricketers are reportedly in favour of participating in the T20 World Cup.
The ICC's position was that it would replace Bangladesh with another team at the 2026 T20 World Cup if the BCB didn't agree to travel to India. Scotland would be the country to replace Bangladesh.
I don't like delving into political matters. All I will say is that the BCB should allow the players to participate in the tournament if they want to. Also, while it's noble to unite with a country, I believe it will be a huge mistake if Pakistan boycott the tournament.