Debjit Saikia, secretary of the Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) said that they have not received any updated information from the ICC regarding the change of venue for Bangladesh’s matches in the upcoming Twenty20 World Cup. According to him, the matter of changing the venue is mainly a matter of discussion between the highest governing body of cricket, ICC and Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB).
Meanwhile, BCB is not willing to go to India to play the World Cup due to security concerns. The Bangladesh Cricket Board has also sent a second round of letters to the ICC clarifying their position.
According to a BCB press release on January 7, in response to the letter, the ICC has reiterated its commitment to ensure the full and seamless participation of the Bangladesh team in the T20 World Cup.
Meanwhile, various Indian media have claimed that ICC may offer Bangladesh to play matches at two other venues in India instead of Sri Lanka.
But BCB has already informed ICC that they are interested in playing their World Cup matches in Sri Lanka. With the start of the World Cup less than a month away, shifting Bangladesh’s matches to other venues at this stage is thought to be logistically impractical.
Indian media reported that the ICC is considering holding the Bangladesh matches in Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram as an alternative.
But BCCI Secretary Saikia said that they have not received any instructions from the ICC in this regard, nor do they know any information.
Saikia told Indian news agency IANS, “We have not yet received any message about shifting the Bangladesh matches to Chennai or elsewhere, and that is beyond our control.” It is a matter of discussion between BCB and ICC as the governing body is ICC. If ICC gives us any decision regarding change of venue, then BCCI as host will take necessary action. We do not have any information on this at the moment.’
India and Sri Lanka are the joint hosts of the T20 World Cup starting from February 7. As per the current schedule, all four matches of Bangladesh from Group ‘C’ will be played in India. Of these, the first three matches are in Kolkata, the last in Mumbai.