ICC delegation to hold talks with BCB in Dhaka over T20 World Cup standoff

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has decided to send two representatives to Dhaka to meet with the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) officials in a bid to break the deadlock over the board's refusal to send its team to India for the T20 World Cup 2026. The delegation is expected to share the security details again - threat levels and arrangements - and seek to dispel the doubts of the board.

Most recently on January 14, both the parties met virtually to discuss the issue. The ICC presented the risk assessment report of an independent agency to the BCB which stated the level of threat to all teams participating in the tournament to be in the moderate-high range. However, it does not state that there is a specific threat to any participating team. The findings were conveyed to the BCB's security team and the ICC emphasised there was no direct threat to the Bangladesh team.

The overall threat levels, determined after assessing all the venues, range between low and moderate and so the ICC is not compelled to make any changes as per its policies. BCB president Aminul Islam, on the other hand, shrugged off the key findings of the report. As reported by Cricbuzz, Islam pointed out a line in it which suggested a threat to the team only in case of a breakout of communal violence which is an extreme situation. The BCB president was adamant on this line in the report and so the meeting led to no resolution.

The seeds of the impasse were sown on January 3 after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) directed the IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to release Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rehman because of "recent developments". Subsequently, the BCB informed the ICC that the team will not travel to India and requested the ICC to move its matches to co-hosts Sri Lanka. So much so that the Bangladesh sports advisor Asif Nazrul also got involved and wrote to the ICC to understand the gravity of the situation. Ever since, the discussions have been held between the ICC and BCB from Dubai and Dhaka respectively.

Bangladesh are scheduled to play on the opening day of the tournament - February 7 - in Kolkata. The Tigers play two more matches at the Eden Gardens before travelling to Mumbai for the last group-stage game.