New Delhi, Jan 21 (UNI) The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday ruled out any change to the schedule or venues of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, stating that comprehensive security assessments found no credible threat to the Bangladesh team, officials, media or fans at any of the tournament venues in India.
“The decision was taken after considering all security assessments conducted, including independent reviews, all of which indicated there was no threat to Bangladesh players, media persons, officials and fans at any of the tournament venues in India,” the ICC said in a statement following its Board meeting.
The ICC Board noted that making changes so close to the tournament was not feasible and warned that altering the schedule without any verified security threat could set a precedent that would undermine the sanctity of future ICC events and the body’s neutrality as a global governing organisation.
The statement said the ICC management held several rounds of correspondence and meetings with the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) in an effort to resolve the issue, sharing detailed information on the event’s security framework, including layered federal and state law-enforcement support.
The ICC’s decision comes after weeks of uncertainty over Bangladesh’s participation in the tournament. On Saturday, January 4, the BCB, in coordination with the Bangladesh government, wrote to the ICC stating that it would not send its team to India citing security concerns. The move followed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) instructing IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders to release Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman from their squad for IPL 2026, though no specific reason was provided for the directive.
Since then, the BCB and the Bangladesh government have maintained that the team would not travel to India and instead sought to play their matches in Sri Lanka.
During interactions with the ICC last week, the BCB also requested that Bangladesh’s group be swapped with another team such as Ireland, which is scheduled to play all its group matches in Sri Lanka. The ICC rejected that request. “Over the past several weeks, the ICC has engaged with the BCB in sustained and constructive dialogue, with the clear objective of enabling Bangladesh’s participation in the tournament,” the ICC said. It added that the BCB repeatedly linked its participation to “a single, isolated and unrelated development” concerning one player’s involvement in a domestic league, stating that such a linkage had no bearing on the tournament’s security framework or participation conditions.
“The ICC’s venue and scheduling decisions are guided by objective threat assessments, host guarantees, and the tournament’s agreed terms of participation, which apply uniformly to all 20 competing nations,” the statement said, adding that relocating fixtures would have significant logistical and scheduling consequences for other teams and fans worldwide.
Bangladesh are placed in Group C of the T20 World Cup and are scheduled to play their first three matches in Kolkata on February 7, 9 and 14, before their final group match in Mumbai on February 17.
ICC rules out schedule change, finds no threat to Bangladesh team
