Former sports adviser Asif Nazrul has defended his decision not to send Bangladesh to India for the T20 World Cup, after an investigation committee held him responsible for the decision.
Following the publication of the investigation report on Tuesday, Asif explained his position in a Facebook post, questioning why the Ministry of Sports conducted a formal investigation into a decision he had already publicly acknowledged as his own.
“Why didn’t we go to India? The decision not to go to India for the T20 World Cup was essentially mine as the then sports adviser. I have said this publicly several times,” he wrote.
He said the decision followed the “humiliating” removal of Bangladesh cricketer Mustafizur Rahman from the IPL amid pressure from Hindu nationalist groups, claiming Bangladesh subsequently raised concerns over security and what he described as the “humiliation” of the country.
Asif said the security concerns were supported by an initial ICC report, which he claimed identified three potential risks in India: Mustafizur’s presence in the World Cup squad, the movement of Bangladeshi supporters, and the approaching election in Bangladesh.
He also referred to a BBC Bangla report that published a Bangla translation of the ICC report.
“In this situation, why would we go to India to play?” he wrote.
Asif said Bangladesh had made efforts to have the World Cup held at another venue and received support from some countries, but those efforts ultimately failed.
He also claimed that Indian authorities had not contacted Bangladesh about hosting the team.
According to Asif, three factors were central to his decision: “The country’s dignity, the security of our cricketers, journalists and supporters, and maintaining stability in the country ahead of the next election.”
He said concerns that skipping the World Cup would damage Bangladesh’s cricketing ties with foreign teams were ultimately addressed through initiatives by the Bangladesh Cricket Board.
“I believe we made the right decision,” he wrote.
Asif also said Bangladesh should maintain relations with India based on equal dignity.
“It is not right to expect that because we are a small country, someone can humiliate us at will and we will always silently accept it,” he wrote.
However, Asif had previously given a different account of the decision.
On January 4, he welcomed the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s decision not to play in India at the upcoming T20 World Cup, attributing it to what he described as the Indian cricket board’s “extreme communal policy” in a verified Facebook post.
