Bangladesh has ruled out travelling to India for next month’s T20 World Cup, insisting it wants to compete in the tournament but not on Indian soil, the country’s cricket board said on Thursday.
Bangladesh Cricket Board president Aminul Islam said the decision was final after the International Cricket Council rejected Bangladesh’s request to move its matches to Sri Lanka. The 20-team tournament is scheduled to begin on Feb. 7 in India.
“Our only demand is to play the World Cup, but not in India,” Aminul told reporters, effectively confirming Bangladesh will not participate under the current arrangements.
The stance was reaffirmed following a meeting between board officials, national players and sports adviser Asif Nazrul, who said there was “no scope” to reverse the decision. Nazrul said Bangladesh felt it had not received fair treatment from the ICC and maintained that security concerns in India remain unresolved.
He said the decision was based on a “real incident” in which Bangladesh believes adequate protection was not provided to one of its cricketers, adding that the concerns were not hypothetical or political.
“We still hope the ICC will do justice with us,” Nazrul said, while reiterating that the team would not travel to India under the current conditions.
Bangladesh’s withdrawal casts fresh uncertainty over the tournament lineup, as cricket’s governing body faces pressure to address security and hosting concerns raised by participating nations.