Defiant Bangladesh won’t visit India, seek ICC relief

The Bangladesh cricket team on Thursday put the ball in the International Cricket Council’s court regarding its participation in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup after it refused to travel to India over security reasons.

Bangladesh’s security threat claim was rejected by the ICC on Wednesday. The ICC, after a board meeting, had announced that the tournament schedule would not be changed as “altering the schedule under the circumstances, in the absence of any credible security threat, could set a precedent that would jeopardise the sanctity of future ICC events”.

However, Bangladesh’s sports adviser Asif Nazrul told the media in Dhaka on Thursday that the team would not travel to India for the World Cup as they could not risk the security of the players, journalists and fans. The decision means that Bangladesh are likely to be replaced in the 20-team tournament if the Bangladesh government does not budge from its stated position.

“Security is the responsibility of that country’s police and security agencies. So what has changed since that incident that would make us believe that there will be no extremist flare-ups again? They could not protect Mustafiz (ur Rehman). How can we be convinced that they can protect our players, journalists and supporters,” Nazrul said.

However, he kept a window for behind-the-doors negotiation with the ICC board.

“We have the right to play the World Cup in Sri Lanka — there are many precedents worldwide where matches have been moved to other venues due to security risks. We have a genuine security risk. We have not lost hope. We hope the ICC will consider this genuine risk and allow us to play the World Cup in Sri Lanka. We are still waiting with that hope,” he said.

Bangladesh raised the security issue with the ICC after Mustafizur Rehman was released by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) from its roster for the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League. The decision was taken amid national uproar over reports of Hindus getting targeted across the border.

Bangladesh Cricket Board chief Aminul Islam Bulbul confirmed that the demand to shift their matches to Sri Lanka was rejected.

“We pointed out the hybrid model being used now. We asked the ICC to follow that logic. However, our application was rejected. A vote was held yesterday, but I cannot reveal the numbers. We are deeply concerned. Bangladesh is a cricket-loving nation. If a country of nearly 200 million people misses the World Cup, the ICC will lose a huge audience,” he said.