T20 World Cup: Bangladesh Faces Difficult Choice As ICC Rejects Relocation Demand

New Delhi: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has outright rejected Bangladesh's demand that it would not play its T20 World Cup matches in India. Bangladesh had requested that its matches be shifted to Sri Lanka. 

What has the ICC told Bangladesh?

However, the ICC has now made it clear that Bangladesh will have to play its T20 World Cup matches in India. The ICC stated that if Bangladesh does not comply, it will face point deductions.

What next for Bangladesh?

Now, after this stance by the ICC, Bangladesh has only two options: either boycott the entire World Cup or accept the ICC's condition and play the matches in India. If they don't, consider their World Cup campaign over, as they will lose points for every match, and the opposing team will receive a walkover, meaning they will get two points without playing.

Is this the end of Bangladesh’s World Cup campaign?

If Bangladesh does not tour India, they could lose points and have to give walkovers in all their matches scheduled in India, resulting in the other teams receiving two points each. Bangladesh has four matches scheduled in the group stage. 

Although Sri Lanka is a co-host of the tournament, Bangladesh is scheduled to play all its group stage matches in India. Three of their four matches will be played in Kolkata, while one match is scheduled in Mumbai. This means they would suffer an 8-point loss.

Has such a situation arisen before?

This has happened before, when in the 1996 World Cup, Australia and West Indies did not travel to play against co-host Sri Lanka. Similarly, in the 2003 World Cup, New Zealand and England did not tour Kenya and Zimbabwe respectively, resulting in both teams giving walkovers. A similar situation now seems likely for the T20 World Cup 2026.

Meanwhile, if Bangladesh boycotts the T20 World Cup, another team could be included in its place. This has happened before, when Australia refused to travel to Bangladesh for the 2016 Under-19 World Cup, and Ireland was included in their place. However, there is currently no clarity on which team would replace Bangladesh if a similar situation arises. 

Why did the controversy arise?

Recently, the IPL team KKR released Bangladeshi fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman at the behest of the BCCI. When the BCCI released Rahman, the Bangladeshi government also got involved in the controversy. They even threatened to boycott the T20 World Cup starting in India on February 7th. In its letter to the ICC, the Bangladesh Cricket Board stated that it would not play its matches in India and demanded that those matches be shifted to Sri Lanka.

Bangladesh argued that this was necessary for the safety of their players. In retaliation, Bangladesh also banned the broadcasting of the IPL in Bangladesh. But now the ICC has made it clear that Bangladesh will have to come to India to play the World Cup matches.