Bangladesh seeks World Cup venue shift after IPL fallout, BCCI calls it unworkable

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has been directed by the country’s sports ministry to formally approach the International Cricket Council (ICC) seeking a shift of Bangladesh’s T20 World Cup league matches from India to Sri Lanka, citing concerns over player safety in the wake of Mustafizur Rahman’s forced exit from the IPL.

The move follows the Bangladesh left-arm pacer’s release by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on the instructions of the BCCI. Mustafizur, bought for ₹9.20 crore after a bidding war at last month’s Abu Dhabi auction, was let go by the Shah Rukh Khan co-owned franchise after the Indian board intervened.

Bangladesh government adviser Asif Nazrul said he has asked the BCB to put its concerns in writing to the Jay Shah-led ICC, arguing that the IPL decision has wider implications for the national team’s security.

“If a Bangladeshi cricketer, despite being under contract, cannot play in India, then the Bangladesh national team cannot feel safe travelling to India to play the World Cup,” Nazrul wrote in a Facebook post in Bengali. He added that the board has been instructed to formally request that Bangladesh’s four league matches be relocated to Sri Lanka.

Bangladesh are scheduled to play three games in Kolkata — against West Indies on February 7, Italy on February 9 and England on February 14 — before facing Nepal in Mumbai on February 17.

BCB president and former national captain Aminul Islam Bulbul, however, declined to comment publicly after an emergency board meeting convened to discuss the issue.

The BCCI has pushed back strongly, with a senior source describing the proposed shift as virtually impossible with barely a month left for the tournament. “You can’t change games on whims and fancies. It’s a logistical nightmare,” the source said, pointing to confirmed travel plans, hotel bookings, broadcast arrangements and the tightly packed schedule that already features three matches per day.

Pakistan, India’s long-time rival, is already set to play its World Cup fixtures in Sri Lanka under an agreement finalised months ago.

The cricketing standoff comes against the backdrop of sharply deteriorating India-Bangladesh relations following the ouster of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India last August amid mass anti-government protests. Hasina has since been sentenced to death in absentia by a tribunal over her alleged role in a deadly crackdown on protesters, while reports of attacks on minorities, including Hindus, have added to regional tensions.

While the BCCI has not explicitly linked Mustafizur Rahman’s release to the political situation, it has acknowledged that the decision was influenced by “what’s been happening all around” — a statement that has only deepened the controversy as cricket once again finds itself entangled with diplomacy and power politics.