Bangladesh\u2019s participation in the men\u2019s T20 World Cup grew more uncertain after the International Cricket Council\u2019s security unit flagged multiple risk factors for the team in India\u2014among them the inclusion of left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman\u2014according to the government\u2019s Youth and Sports Adviser, Prof. Asif Nazrul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking at a press conference at the BFF House on Monday, Nazrul said an ICC security memo to the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) outlined three conditions that could heighten threats to the squad if it plays in India: Mustafizur\u2019s selection in the World Cup squad; Bangladeshi fans wearing national jerseys in public; and a rising risk profile as Bangladesh\u2019s national election nears. \u201cIf the ICC expects us to drop our best bowler, stop supporters from wearing the national shirt, or delay an election to play cricket\u2014nothing could be more unrealistic,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The adviser criticized the political and social climate in India as \u201chostile\u201d toward Bangladesh and argued recent developments surrounding Mustafizur had \u201cremoved any doubt\u201d that a safe environment does not exist for the team there. He reiterated the government\u2019s position that the ICC should permit Bangladesh to play its fixtures outside India\u2014citing Sri Lanka as the preferred option\u2014and warned against any \u201cmonopoly\u201d over global cricket. \u201cIf the ICC is truly a global organization, not beholden to any one country, it must allow Bangladesh to play in Sri Lanka,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nazrul added that alternative hosting offers could be workable if a neutral venue is required. \u201cI saw reports\u2014can\u2019t confirm yet\u2014that Pakistan proposed hosting our matches. There\u2019s no problem if it\u2019s Pakistan, and no problem if it\u2019s the UAE,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The remarks come amid a broader standoff over Bangladesh\u2019s World Cup schedule. BCB directors have previously voiced concerns about player, staff, and official safety should the team travel to India, and the board has engaged the ICC about venue changes. Monday\u2019s disclosure of the ICC security unit\u2019s scenarios appears to harden Dhaka\u2019s stance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mustafizur, one of Bangladesh\u2019s most experienced T20 bowlers, has been at the center of intense debate in recent days, with the adviser alleging that calls around his participation underscore a wider \u201cBangladesh-averse\u201d campaign across the border. \u201cWhere one of our players cannot safely take the field, that itself demonstrates there is no environment to play anywhere in India,\u201d Nazrul said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Neither the ICC nor the BCB immediately issued a public statement on the reported security memo. The ICC typically coordinates tournament security with host authorities, participating boards, and independent risk consultants.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bangladesh\u2019s participation in the men\u2019s T20 World Cup grew more uncertain after the International Cricket Council\u2019s security unit flagged multiple risk factors for the team in India\u2014among them the inclusion of left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman\u2014according to the government\u2019s Youth and Sports Adviser, Prof. Asif Nazrul. Speaking at a press conference at the BFF House on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7052,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-5"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7049"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7049\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7055,"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7049\/revisions\/7055"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}