Bangladesh refuse to travel to India for T20 World Cup

Bangladesh have refused to travel to India for the 2026 Men's T20 World Cup, with the BCB citing concerns around "safety and well-being" of the players in a climate of deteriorating political ties between the two countries, and sparked by BCCI instructions to Kolkata Knight Riders to release Mustafizur Rahman.

Bangladesh's T20 World Cup matches were scheduled to be held in Kolkata and Mumbai, with their opening fixture against West Indies at Eden Gardens on February 7. With just a month to go for the start of the tournament, the BCB's decision throws the schedule into some disarray.

"Following a thorough assessment of the prevailing situation and the growing concerns regarding the safety and security of the Bangladesh contingent in India and considering the advice from the Bangladesh Government, the Board of Directors resolved that the Bangladesh National Team will not travel to India for the tournament under the current conditions," the BCB said in a statement.

"In light of this decision, the BCB has formally requested the International Cricket Council (ICC), as the event authority, to consider relocating all of Bangladesh's matches to a venue outside India."

The BCB's statement came two hours after Bangladesh's sports adviser Asif Nazrul backed the board's decision of refusing to travel to India. "The BCB has decided not to send the Bangladesh team to India for the World Cup," he wrote on his official Facebook page. "We welcome this decision taken in the context of the radical communal policies of the Indian cricket board."

ESPNcricinfo understands that the BCB took the decision after much deliberation, and has approached the ICC for a comment.

The BCB directors had sat in two video-conference meetings over the last 24 hours. The first was on Saturday evening, and ESPNcricinfo understands that a concrete decision didn't emerge from it. The BCB reconvened on Sunday afternoon with 17 directors meeting at 1pm local time, and made the final decision to write to the ICC about their concerns and refusal to travel to India.

"India said that they are unable to provide security for one player, so how can they give security for the whole team? We had to take the decision considering not just the players and support staff," a BCB official said. "We have to think about the fans and journalists who will travel to India. We can't play in India. We can play in Sri Lanka."

The BCCI has not officially said that its instruction to KKR to release Mustafizur from their squad was based on security.

Relocating Bangladesh's fixtures could result in a fresh set of complications. The 2026 T20 World Cup will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka. The tournament does not follow a hybrid model like the 2025 Champions Trophy, so it remains to be seen whether the ICC will agree to Bangladesh's request to move their matches out of India.

Meanwhile, the BCB has also written to the BCCI, asking it to explain why Mustafizur was released from the KKR squad when the Indian board had written to the Bangladesh board, requesting it to make him available for the IPL auction. It's understood that the BCB's letter to the BCCI, however, doesn't address its security concerns. The BCB has shared those concerns with the ICC.