Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has laid bare the sequence of events that led to its refusal to travel to India for the upcoming T20 World Cup, with president Aminul Islam Bulbul stating that Mustafizur Rahman’s removal from an IPL franchise on security grounds was the tipping point.Speaking to media in Dhaka, Bulbul said Mustafizur was neither injured nor had withdrawn himself from the Indian Premier League, nor had the BCB revoked his No Objection Certificate (NOC). “He was dropped due to security reasons,” Bulbul said, calling it a moment that raised serious red flags for Bangladesh cricket.
According to Bulbul, once the BCB learned of Mustafizur’s ouster, it immediately reached out to the International Cricket Council (ICC) on January 4. “We informed them of the situation and asked them to take this seriously,” he said. “If a player can be removed from a league due to security concerns, how can we ignore those same concerns for a World Cup?”Bulbul said the BCB proposed solutions rather than confrontation, pointing to precedents where neutral venues and hybrid models had been adopted due to security issues, including past ICC tournaments such as the Champions Trophy. “We asked the ICC to follow that logic,” he said. “Let us play the World Cup, but at a neutral venue like Sri Lanka or elsewhere.”The ICC, however, rejected Bangladesh’s application. Bulbul confirmed that a vote was held at an ICC meeting, though he said he was barred from revealing the exact numbers. “What I can say is that we are deeply concerned,” he added.The BCB president warned that excluding Bangladesh from the T20 World Cup would be a damaging decision for the global game. “Bangladesh is a cricket-loving nation of nearly 200 million people,” Bulbul said. “If Bangladesh misses the World Cup, the ICC will lose a massive audience.”He also placed the issue in a broader context, noting cricket’s inclusion in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, the Brisbane 2032 Games, and India’s bid to host the 2036 Olympics. “Leaving out a major cricket nation at this stage would be a failure for the sport,” he argued.When asked about the players’ views, Bulbul declined to go into detail, calling it “personal.” He also denied reports that Bangladesh had been offered an option where players could travel with maximum security while journalists and fans stayed away. “No such communication took place,” he said.Bulbul was particularly critical of what he described as a 24-hour ultimatum issued to the BCB. “A world organisation cannot impose a 24-hour deadline,” he said. “We will keep fighting.”“Our demand is simple,” Bulbul concluded. “We want to play the World Cup — but not in India. Our team is ready.”
