Bangladesh government has officially announced that its cricket team will boycott the upcoming T20 World Cup 2026, citing unresolved concerns over playing matches in India. The decision comes after ICC rejected Bangladesh’s request to move their fixtures out of India, a move that has deepened tensions between the board, ICC, and Indian cricket authorities.
Bangladesh officials said they remain uncertain about the current direction of world cricket and warned that the sport’s global appeal is declining. They claimed that nearly 200 million people have effectively been excluded, calling it a serious failure of governance. While cricket is set to become part of Olympic Games, the government argued that excluding a country like Bangladesh from fair participation reflects poorly on ICC.
Despite the strong stance, Bangladesh clarified that it does not want to withdraw from T20 World Cup entirely.
Officials stressed that they are willing to continue discussions with ICC, but made it clear that playing in India is not an option for them.
The government also revealed that several decisions taken during ICC board meeting were “shocking” and unfair, further damaging trust.
It added that the ongoing Mustafizur Rahman-related issue is not an isolated case, alleging that India acted as the sole decision-maker in that matter as well.
BCB president Aminul Islam: “We will go back to ICC with our plan to play in Sri Lanka. 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 was shocking.”
Government sports adviser Asif Nazrul: “We are hopeful that ICC will give us the opportunity to play in Sri Lanka. It is our government who has decided not to go to India.”
Bangladesh maintained that it will continue to challenge these decisions and press ICC for a resolution, insisting that the fight is about fairness, representation, and the future credibility of international cricket.
