The ICC had given the BCB 24 hours to confirm its final decision regarding participating in the upcoming T20 World Cup in India. Despite this, Bangladesh’s decision remains unchanged; Litton Das, Sohan, and others will not be going to India. However, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has taken new steps to relocate Bangladesh’s matches to Sri Lanka.
On Thursday (January 23) afternoon, following a meeting with the cricketers in the World Cup squad, Youth and Sports Advisor Professor Asif Nazrul told reporters, “There is no possibility for our decision to change.”
This signifies that even after the ICC announced its decision not to change the venue, Bangladesh remains steadfast in its position of not playing the T20 World Cup matches in India. Not only that, but the BCB reiterated its firm stance by sending another email to the ICC yesterday.
In the email, the ICC was requested to forward Bangladesh’s demand for a venue change to the ICC’s independent Dispute Resolution Committee. This committee, composed of independent lawyers, is responsible for resolving disputes related to ICC matters.
The BCB hopes that the ICC will respond to their request and send the venue change demand to the Dispute Resolution Committee. However, since yesterday’s announcement, the ICC has not officially commented further. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has also remained silent on the matter from the outset.
Consequently, if the ICC ultimately does not accept the venue change demand, Bangladesh will not be playing in this year’s T20 World Cup, which is set to begin on February 7 in India and Sri Lanka. All four of Bangladesh’s matches in the first round were originally scheduled for Kolkata and Mumbai, two cities in India.
