A Bangladesh government official has claimed that the International Cricket Council (ICC) has warned them that including Mustafizur Rahman in the 2026 T20 World Cup squad would be a ‘security risk’. Asif Nazrul, the national sports advisor, said the ICC’s security team has informed them about similar risks associated with Bangladesh fans wearing their kits publicly in India, and with elections back at home.
Nazrul argued that this letter from the ICC has ‘undoubtedly proven’ that it’s not safe for the Bangladesh team to travel to India for the marquee event, further pushing for a venue change.
“The ICC’s security team — the officials responsible for security — has sent a letter. In that letter, it has been stated that if three things happen, the security risk
for the Bangladesh team will increase: if Mustafizur is included in the Bangladesh team, if supporters of the Bangladesh team move around wearing Bangladesh’s national jersey, which is our national jersey and as the election comes closer, the security risk for the Bangladesh team will allegedly increase,” he told reporters on Monday.
Mustafizur, one of Bangladesh’s best left-arm pacers, is the player of interest here, for he was the medium of some fringe Indian groups’ anti-Bangladesh sentiment, who threatened Kolkata Knight Riders for signing him in the IPL 2026 auction. That, in turn, was connected to the attacks against the Hindu minority in Bangladesh.
The BCCI caved in and asked KKR to release the bowler, which snowballed into a huge controversy as the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) wrote to the ICC about its apprehension of playing the World Cup in India, and banning IPL telecast in the country.
“So, this statement from the ICC security team has undoubtedly proven that there is no situation whatsoever for the Bangladesh cricket team to play the T20 World Cup in India,” Nazrul said. “If the ICC expects that we will form a cricket team by excluding our best bowler, that our supporters will not be able to wear Bangladesh’s jersey, and that we will postpone Bangladesh’s election in order to play cricket – then there cannot be any expectation more bizarre, unrealistic, or unreasonable than this. We believe that considering the aggressive communal situation prevailing in India and the anti-Bangladesh environment there, especially the continuous anti-Bangladesh campaign that has been going on for the past 16 months, it has become impossible for Bangladesh to play cricket in India.”
