Bangladesh Cricket Board president Aminul Islam on Monday said the board does not feel secure sending the national team to India for the upcoming T20 World Cup, citing concerns arising from recent developments.
His remarks came a day after the BCB formally requested the International Cricket Council to shift Bangladesh’s World Cup matches out of India.
“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.
“So we wrote a letter to the ICC, and in the letter we clearly stated what we wanted to say. Because to us, security appeared to be a major concern and that is what we are following,” he said.
“We have sent an email to the ICC and we are expecting them to tell us to have a meeting with them soon where we will express our concern,” he added.
“But what our next step will be depend on the reply to the email we have sent. We are not communicating with BCCI because this is an ICC event. We are communicating with the ICC,” he said.
The move was triggered by pacer Mustafizur Rahman’s release from the Indian Premier League following instructions from the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia, while announcing the decision, had said it was due to “developments all around” without elaborating further.
Bangladesh are scheduled to play three T20 World Cup matches in Kolkata and one in Mumbai.
Drawn in Group C, the team is set to open its campaign against the West Indies at Eden Gardens on February 7, followed by matches against defending champions England, Italy and Nepal.
The development comes against the backdrop of strained Indo-Bangladesh relations after the ouster of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India in August last year following anti-government protests.
She 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.
Hindus have been targetted for violent attacks since Hasina’s ouster.
