India’s tour of Bangladesh prospect ‘now 50-50’

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) remains hopeful of hosting India in the white-ball series in September, but recent developments have added uncertainty over the tour.

Sources informed that during BCB president Tamim Iqbal’s recent visit to India, discussions were held over the series, which was scheduled for August 2025 before being postponed in the aftermath of the change in government in 2024.

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“We are still hopeful of the series being played. We can’t say that it’s confirmed, but we are still trying and working positively towards it,” BCB media committee chairman Asif Rabbani told The Daily Star yesterday.

However, a strongly worded Foreign Ministry statement over former prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s live interaction with the media in New Delhi on Wednesday has cast further uncertainty over the series.

BCB sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they were very hopeful about the series before Wednesday’s developments but now believe the chances have fallen to “fifty-fifty”.

“We are still not completely disappointed, but the situation has taken a different turn after yesterday [Wednesday]. The meetings with BCCI had been positive beforehand,” a BCB official said.

“Cricket plays a big role in diplomacy, and we felt the series would have a positive role in that regard. But after yesterday’s situation, the series is now fifty-fifty in my opinion,” the official added.

BCB’s itinerary at the start of the year showed that India were scheduled to arrive on August 28 for an ODI series from September 1 to 6, followed by T20Is from September 9 to 12. BCCI, for their part, has kept the window open for the Bangladesh series following the conclusion of their Test series in Sri Lanka on August 27.