ICC rejects BCB’s relocation request
International Cricket Council rejected Bangladesh Cricket Board’s request to relocate the national cricket team’s matches of the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup from India after an ICC board meeting yesterday.
ICC announced its decision through a media release after the meeting, held through a video conference. In it, the world cricket’s governing body said it did not want to set a bad precedent through accepting Bangladesh’s request “in the absence of any credible security threat”.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. “In the absence of any independent security findings that materially compromise the safety of the Bangladesh team, the ICC is unable to relocate fixtures,” an unnamed ICC spokesperson was quoted in the media release, which is also the ICC’s first formal response in any form since the BCB first requested relocation on January 4.
“Doing so would carry significant logistical and scheduling consequences for other teams and fans worldwide, and would also create far-reaching precedent-related challenges that risk undermining the neutrality, fairness, and integrity of ICC governance,” the ICC spokesperson added.
The tournament, set to be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka, will now begin on February 7 with an unchanged schedule.
Meanwhile, according to an ESPNCricinfo report, the ICC has given the BCB one more day to confer with the government and decide whether it would send the team to India for the World Cup.
"I asked the ICC board for time to talk to my government for one last time," the cricket website quoted Aminul as saying. "They said it's a valid point, and gave me 24 or 48 hours to get back to them. I don't want to put pressure on the government. We know that India is not secure for us. We remain in the stance that we want to play in Sri Lanka. I know the ICC denied us but we will talk to the government one more time. I will inform the ICC about the government's feedback."
The report further added if the BCB stays firm on its position, Scotland would replace the Tigers in the 20-team tournament.
BCB president Aminul Islam Bulbul represented the board in the ICC meeting. In the evening, he held an emergency meeting with BCB directors, however, the board did not brief the media or issue any statement afterwards.
After the meeting, a BCB director, requesting anonymity, corroborated ESPNCricinfo’s report to The Daily Star and said the BCB president will convey the ICC’s message to the government, and the board will follow the government’s directive.
The Daily Star phoned the Youth and Sports Adviser Asif Nazrul several times and also sent him texts, but he did not respond.
According to online reports, ICC chairman Jay Shah, deputy chairman Imran Khawaja, general manager Gaurav Saxena, Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) head Andrew Ephgrave, who had an in-person meeting with BCB officials last Saturday as part of an ICC delegation, directors of all Full Members, and two Associate Member directors were present in the meeting.
ESPNCricinfo claimed a vote was held over the BCB’s request and out of the 15 Member directors present, only the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) supported Bangladesh’s position, while others voted in favour of leaving the original schedule unchanged.
Bangladesh are part of Group C and are scheduled to face West Indies, Italy and England on February 7, 9 and 14 respectively in Kolkata before facing Nepal in their group-stage match on February 17 in Mumbai.
Previously, the row began when Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman was released by Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Kolkata Knight Riders following instructions from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), reportedly amid pressure from right-wing political and religious groups.
ICC also referred to this incident in its media release.
“Despite these efforts, the BCB maintained its position, repeatedly linking its participation in the tournament to a single, isolated and unrelated development concerning one of its player’s involvement in a domestic league. This linkage has no bearing on the tournament’s security framework or the conditions governing participation in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.”
On January 4, the BCB wrote a letter to the ICC that it would not be sending the national team to India for the T20 World Cup due to security reasons.
Since then, BCB and ICC have had several communications, where the world cricket’s governing body tried to persuade the BCB change its stance, but the board held firm on its position.
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