In a letter to the ICC, the Pakistan Cricket Board reportedly supported Bangladesh’s position that it would not play its Twenty20 World Cup matches in India because of “security concerns”.
The ultimate decision about Bangladesh’s participation in the T20 World Cup, including whether the team will go to India for the competition beginning on February 7, will be made by the ICC Board on Wednesday.
All four of Bangladesh’s group-stage games will take place in India; the first three will take place in Kolkata, and the final game will take place in Mumbai. Nonetheless, the government-backed Bangladesh Cricket Board has persisted in demanding that its games be moved to co-hosts Sri Lanka.
According to ESPNCricinfo, the PCB wrote to the international organization on the eve of the ICC meeting to support the BCB’s position, citing political unrest in the area. The letter was copied to every member of the ICC Board.
Despite numerous meetings on the matter, including one last weekend in Dhaka, neither the ICC nor the BCB have changed their position. The BCB has maintained that it is unable to send a squad to India, despite the ICC’s insistence that the competition take place as per schedule.
Although Board sources claim that the Bangladeshi government had sought Pakistan for support at the ICC, the PCB has not publicly commented on the issue. Under a hybrid model deal with the BCCI and ICC, Pakistan will play all of their games in Sri Lanka till 2027.
The Bangladesh problem started when the BCCI ordered the Kolkata Knight Riders to release bowler Mustafizur Rahman, citing “recent developments all around.” The Bangladesh government then outlawed IPL broadcasting, and the BCB formally notified the ICC that it would not be playing T20 World Cup matches in India.
