T20 World Cup 2026: ICC rejects Bangladesh's request to shift matches outside India

The International Cricket Council has addressed the Bangladesh Cricket Board's request to shift their matches from India to Sri Lanka in the upcoming Men's ICC T20 World Cup 2026 and has decided to reject its appeal, according to ANI, quoting sources.ICC rejects BCB's requestANI further revealed via sources that a virtual call on Tuesday took place between the ICC and BCB, during which the apex cricketing body informed the latter that it is rejecting their request to relocate Bangladesh's matches outside India due to security concerns.ICC have clearly conveyed to the BCB that their team will need to travel to India to play their T20 World Cup matches or risk forfeiting points.It should be noted that neither ICC nor BCB have issued any official statement regarding the outcome of Tuesday's call, which was arranged after BCB urged ICC to consider moving Bagladesh's matches to Sri Lanka in the T20 World Cup 2026.Bangladesh team's T20 World Cup 2026 scheduleAs per the official schedule of the T20 World Cup 2026, Bangladesh will open their campaign on February 7 against two-time champions West Indies at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Following that, they are scheduled to face Italy and England at the same venue.After the match against England, Bangladesh are scheduled to travel to Mumbai to play Nepal at Wankhede Stadium. The World Cup is slated to begin on February 7. Pakistan and the Netherlands will kick off the tournament in Colombo.Given the request made by the Bangladesh board, it will be interesting to see whether it will follow the official schedule of the T20 World Cup or will remain steadfast about not wanting to play in India due to "safety and security" concerns. Mustafizur Rehman's removal initiated the rowIt all started following the removal of Bangladeshi pacer Mustafizur Rehman from the Kolkata Knight Riders' IPL 2026 squad. Soon after KKR's announcement disseminating about the release of the player, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia issued a statement revealing that the apex cricket board had instructed the IPL outfit to release the Bangladeshi pacer.The entire episode transpired following the removal of Bangladeshi pacer Mustafizur Rehman from the Kolkata Knight Riders' IPL 2026 squad. Soon after KKR's decision, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia corroborated KKR by stating that the apex cricket board had indeed instructed the IPL outfit to release the Bangladeshi pacer."Due to the recent developments which is going on all across, BCCI has instructed the franchise KKR to release one of their players, Mustafizur Rahman of Bangladesh, from their squad, and BCCI has also said that if they ask for any replacement, BCCI is going to allow that replacement," Devaijit Saikia had told ANI.Bangladesh government bans IPL telecastKKR acquired the services of Rehman after making the winning bid of 9.20 crore for the player in the IPL 2026 auction. The price made the bowler the most expensive Bangladeshi player in the history of the league.While the BCCI did not convey a concrete reason behind the instruction given to the IPL franchise, it is widely believed that the board passed the directive keeping in view the recent civil unrest in Bangladesh, where atrocities were committed against minorities.Mustafizur's release from IPL 2026 seemingly prompted the Bangladesh government to impose an indefinite ban on the telecast of IPL in the country.With inputs from ANI