Don’t feel secure sending team to India; next step depends on ICC response: Bangladesh Cricket Board

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Aminul Islam on January 5, said the board does not feel secure sending the national team to India for the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, adding that the BCB’s next course of action will depend on the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) response.
Aminul’s remarks came a day after the BCB formally wrote to the ICC, requesting that Bangladesh’s T20 World Cup matches be shifted out of India, citing security concerns. The move followed the release of Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman from the Indian Premier League (IPL) on the instruction of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
“You know that we, along with all the directors of the cricket board, held two meetings before taking this decision and at this moment we do not feel secure sending our team to India to play the World Cup,” Aminul told reporters.
He said the BCB had clearly communicated its concerns to the ICC. “So we wrote a letter to the ICC, and in the letter, we clearly stated what we wanted to say. To us, security appeared to be a major concern and that is what we are following,” he said.
The BCB president added that the board is awaiting a response from the ICC. “We have sent an email to the ICC and we are expecting them to call for a meeting soon where we will express our concern. What our next step will be depends on the reply to the email we have sent,” Aminul said.
Clarifying the board’s stance, he said the BCB is not in direct communication with the BCCI on the matter. “We are not communicating with the BCCI because this is an ICC event. We are communicating with the ICC,” he added.
Earlier, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia, while announcing Mustafizur Rahman’s release from the IPL, cited “developments all around” as the reason, without elaborating further.
Bangladesh is scheduled to play three of its T20 World Cup matches in Kolkata and one in Mumbai. Placed in Group C, the team is set to face the West Indies in their opening match at Eden Gardens on February 7, followed by fixtures against defending champions England, Italy and Nepal.
The development comes amid strained relations between India and Bangladesh following the ouster of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India in August last year after anti-government protests. Hasina was later sentenced to death in absentia by a tribunal for her alleged role in a deadly crackdown during the agitation, in which several students were killed. Reports of attacks on Hindu minorities in Bangladesh since her ouster have further heightened tensions.