Bangladesh won't travel to India for T20 World Cup

The Bangladesh National Cricket Team will not travel to India for the next T20 World Cup.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) wrote to the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Sunday, January 4, requesting it to relocate their World Cup matches from India to Sri Lanka.

BCB Director and Cricket Operations Chairman Nazmul Abedin Fahim confirmed the matter to Jago News.

The decision follows the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) asking the Kolkata Knight Riders to release Bangladeshi player Mustafizur Rahman from their squad for IPL 2026.

"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," Devajit Saikia, the BCCI secretary, said on Saturday.

Though Saikia didn't specify what the reason for the BCCI's decision was, Indian news outlets over the past few days have reported Indian spiritual and political leaders as criticising KKR and their owner Shah Rukh Khan for including Mustafizur in their line-up at a time when, reportedly, Hindu minorities are being attacked in Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, just a day before Saikia's statement on Mustafizur, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announced their home season, starting March 2026, and that includes a white-ball tour of three ODIs and three T20Is by India, a series that was originally planned for 2025 but was rescheduled.

With inputs from ESPNcricinfo