Bangladesh rejects Indian reports of ultimatum to cricket board

DHAKA: The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has issued a clarification regarding its ongoing communication with the International Cricket Council (ICC) and has termed the reports of an ultimatum circulating in the Indian media as false and unsubstantiated.

The statement said that the ICC has responded to the BCB’s concerns regarding its participation in the T20 World Cup to be held in India.

The BCB had requested to shift Bangladesh’s matches in the World Cup from India, to which the ICC assured that there would be no hindrance in the team’s participation.

The BCB said that constructive discussions are ongoing with the ICC regarding the concerns and that communication will continue in the same manner in the future.

The statement clarified that the ICC’s communication was reported out of context and that there is no factual allegation.

Indian Media report on BCB

Earlier, the Indian media had claimed that the ICC had rejected Bangladesh’s request to shift the T20 World Cup matches from India to another venue.

According to reports, Bangladesh had requested to shift the T20 World Cup matches to a neutral venue instead of India due to security concerns.

However, the ICC did not accept this request and directed Bangladesh to go to India for the matches.

The reports also state that if Bangladesh refuses to go to India, it may face a loss of points.

Before this, Bangladesh had demanded the transfer of the matches due to the recent security situation.

A day earlier, Bangladesh Cricket Board Director Asif Akbar had said in two words that his team would not go to India to play the T20 World Cup under any circumstances.

It should be remembered that the IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders had expelled Bangladeshi fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman from the league after threats from Indian Hindu extremists. In this context, the Bangladesh Cricket Board called an emergency meeting and announced not to send the team to India.