India-Bangladesh Relations Collapsing! BCCI Freezes 2026 Tour After Mustafizur Row

The cricketing relations between India and Bangladesh seem to be heading to an all-time low. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday (January 3) reportedly put on hold a scheduled tour of Bangladesh in 2026, which was only recently announced by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB).

According to The Indian Express, the BCCI will now seek the Indian government’s approval for the tour. It has also raised the prospect of the relationship collapsing into an India-Pakistan-like situation, where the two teams would play each other only on neutral venues at global events.

This series was scheduled for 2025 but was postponed due to strained relations between the countries. In December, a rubber between India and Bangladesh women cricket

teams was also put off.

“We didn’t travel to Bangladesh last year too, BCB had issued their international calendar, but it looks doubtful, as we need Indian government approval to play in any other country. As far as the T20I World Cup is concerned, Bangladesh will play as per the scheduled games in India,” the newspaper quoted a BCCI official as saying.

India and Bangladesh were friendly neighbors for decades. Relationships soared after the violent ouster of the Sheikh Hasina government last year.

The new interim government led by Muhammad Yunus has a markedly different diplomatic posture and is struggling with domestic instability and the rise of anti-India sentiment. That has also filtered into sports, with some Indian religious groups threatening the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to release Bangladeshi fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman from their roster, despite signing him for Rs. 9.2 crore in the IPL 2026 auction.

They argued that it was insensitive for Mustafizur to be chosen in the IPL amid the attacks on Hindu minorities in Bangladesh. Their critics, meanwhile, noted that neither Mustafizur nor any of his Bangladeshi teammates had anything to do with the violence, and using cricket as a way of political messaging will only hurt the sport and the country’s soft power with a key neighbor.

However, earlier on Saturday, the BCCI said it had directed KKR to release Mustafizur, and the franchise followed suit.