Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) President Aminul Islam Bulbul reaffirmed the government’s stance on not participating in the upcoming T20 World Cup in India, emphasizing that Bangladesh remains firm on its position.
Bulbul’s remarks came a day after the International Cricket Council (ICC) rejected Bangladesh’s request to shift their matches to Sri Lanka.
“We are still standing by our demand: we want to play the World Cup, but not in India,” Bulbul said. “We are ready to compete in Sri Lanka or another neutral venue.”
He added that he would speak with the ICC later today to explain why playing in India is not feasible.
“We are doing everything possible to participate in the World Cup while avoiding India due to ongoing security concerns. We hope the ICC understands our position,” he noted.
Bulbul also warned that the ICC could lose a huge audience if Bangladesh withdraws from the tournament.
“We are proud of our cricket, but we question the ICC’s decisions. When the sport’s popularity was at risk, we expected the ICC to act in ways that wouldn’t exclude 200 million fans from following the game,” he said.
“We had hoped the ICC would approve our request to play in Sri Lanka, but instead we were presented with an ultimatum. Nevertheless, we will continue to make every effort to resolve this issue,” Bulbul concluded.