The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has announced that it will not send its team to India for the T20 World Cup.
According to a statement issued by the board, an emergency meeting of the BCB’s Board of Directors was held this afternoon to review developments related to the T20 World Cup scheduled to take place in India and Sri Lanka.
The statement said that the situation that emerged over the past 24 hours was discussed in detail, following which the Board of Governors decided that the Bangladesh national team would not travel to India.
The board added that the decision has been formally communicated to the International Cricket Council (ICC), and the BCB is awaiting a response, expressing hope that the ICC will take the situation into account and respond promptly.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s adviser on sports also announced that the country would not tour India to participate in the World Cup, confirming that the decision had been taken by the Bangladesh Cricket Board earlier today.
He said the decision was welcome, as it had been made in light of what he described as the aggressive and sectarian policies of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
Tensions between the Indian and Bangladesh cricket boards reportedly escalated after fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman was released from the Indian Premier League under pressure from Indian extremists.
Sources said the BCB is likely to request that Bangladesh’s World Cup matches be held in Sri Lanka.
Bangladesh’s fixtures in the ICC T20 World Cup are currently scheduled to take place in India, with three matches in Kolkata and one in Mumbai.
