The Bangladesh Cricket Board has requested the International Cricket Council to shift its team\u2019s matches to a neutral venue, citing security concerns for its players in India amid worsening ties between the South Asian neighbours. <\/p>\n
The demand was made after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) forced <\/a>Indian Premier League franchise Kolkata Knight Riders to remove Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman<\/a> from its squad for this year\u2019s tournament. The decision to remove Rahman sparked outrage in Bangladesh, which banned IPL broadcasts and announced that it would not send its team for the World Cup in India.<\/p>\n The Indian cricket board hasn\u2019t given a specific reason for removing Rahman from the IPL, but the decision is widely believed to have been prompted by diplomatic tensions between Delhi and Dhaka.<\/p>\n Tensions have been mounting <\/a>since a street agitation ousted Sheikh Hasina as prime minister in 2024. The former leader fled to India, <\/a>where she continues to live close to the corridors of power despite requests for her extradition from Dhaka.<\/p>\n The ousted leader was a close ally of India and bilateral relations have soured since she was replaced by an interim government.<\/p>\n Tensions flared in December after a Bangladeshi Hindu man accused of blasphemy <\/a>was beaten to death by a mob, triggering protests by Hindu groups in India. <\/p>\n The fallout spilled over into cricket, arguably South Asia\u2019s most popular sport, with the Indian board removing Rahman from the IPL roster.<\/p>\n The World Cup, <\/a>co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka<\/a>, begins on 7 February. Bangladesh is scheduled to play three group matches in Kolkata and one in Mumbai.<\/p>\n Representatives of the Bangladesh Cricket Board and the ICC held a video conference on Tuesday to discuss the issue for the first time but didn\u2019t reach a resolution.<\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n Mustafizur Rahman reacts during a match against New Zealand in 2023 (Getty)<\/p>\n The ICC said the tournament\u2019s itinerary had already been announced and requested Bangladesh\u2019s board to reconsider its stance.<\/p>\n \u201cThe BCB reaffirmed its position regarding the decision not to travel to India, citing security concerns,\u201d the board said after the call, adding that it \u201creiterated its request for the ICC to consider relocating Bangladesh\u2019s matches outside India\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile the ICC highlighted that the tournament itinerary has already been announced and requested the BCB to reconsider its stance,\u201d it noted, \u201cthe board\u2019s position remains unchanged.\u201d<\/p>\n Ahead of the video call, the two sides had exchanged letters stating their positions. The ICC reportedly said in its letter that an independent security assessment indicated \u201cno specific or heightened threat\u201d to Bangladesh\u2019s team in India.<\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n Protest in India against the killing of a Hindu man in Bangladesh (AP)<\/p>\n Although the call did not lead to a resolution, the parties agreed that discussions would continue to explore possible solutions. <\/p>\n \u201cThe BCB remains committed to safeguarding the well-being of its players, officials and staff while engaging constructively with the ICC to address the matter,\u201d the board said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":369267,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[1721,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-369266","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cricket","8":"tag-cricket","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=369266"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369266\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/369267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=369266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=369266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=369266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Mustafizur](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-1875690186.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Protest](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/India-Bangladesh-Protest-xaw33sgd.jpeg\")
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