Bangladesh has hardened its position on the 2026 T20 World Cup, insisting it will not play its matches in India and will instead press the International Cricket Council to shift its fixtures to Sri Lanka, despite a clear warning that it risks being replaced at the tournament.
Following a high-level meeting in Dhaka between the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), senior players and the government’s sports adviser, officials said the stance taken earlier this month had not changed.
The meeting comes a day after the International Cricket Council board voted to replace Bangladesh if it continued to refuse travel to India, dismissing the BCB’s security concerns.
BCB president Aminul Islam said the board would return to the ICC with a proposal to stage Bangladesh’s matches in Sri Lanka, which the ICC has designated as a co-host under a hybrid model.
“We will go back to the ICC with our plan to play in Sri Lanka,” Aminul said after the meeting. “They did give us a 24-hour ultimatum but a global body can’t really do that. ICC will miss out on 200 million people watching the World Cup. It will be their loss. ICC is calling Sri Lanka co-hosts. They are not co-hosts. It is a hybrid model. Some of the things I heard in the ICC meeting were shocking.”
Government sports adviser Asif Nazrul underlined that the decision not to travel to India had been taken at the highest level. “We are hopeful that ICC will give us the opportunity to play in Sri Lanka,” he said. “It is our government who has decided not to go to India.”
The ICC, however, has taken a hard line. After Wednesday’s board meeting, it informed the BCB that Bangladesh would be replaced at the World Cup if it persisted with its refusal.
The decision followed a vote in which a majority of board members backed the replacement option. The BCB was given one additional day to convey its final position.
Amid the standoff, Bangladesh’s players arrived at the InterContinental Hotel in Dhaka to meet Nazrul and BCB officials.
Among those present were Nurul Hasan, Shamim Hossain, Hasan Mahmud, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Jaker Ali and Saif Hassan, along with BCB chief executive Nizamuddin.
According to ESPNcricinfo, the prevailing sentiment within the squad is that players want to participate in the World Cup and intend to communicate that desire to the government representative.
The meeting is seen as a last attempt to find a way forward after weeks of deadlock.
Since January 4, the BCB and the Bangladesh government have consistently cited security concerns in refusing to travel to India.
The ICC has rejected those concerns, making clear that non-compliance would result in Bangladesh losing its place at the tournament.
With the deadline looming, the Dhaka talks are expected to determine “once and for all” whether Bangladesh travels to India under the ICC’s arrangements or gives up its spot at the 2026 T20 World Cup.