Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Aminul Islam Bulbul has made it clear that the board is not ready to give up yet. Speaking about Bangladesh’s participation in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup, set to begin on February 7 and jointly scheduled in India and Sri Lanka. Bulbul said the BCB “will keep on fighting” to make sure Bangladesh is part of the tournament. He stressed that the team is fully prepared to play, as long as their matches are held in Sri Lanka.
Bulbul shared his thoughts after a meeting on Thursday at a city hotel, where Youth and Sports Adviser Asif Nazrul, BCB officials, and national team players came together. This was the first direct discussion with the players regarding the World Cup situation. Captains Najmul Hossain Shanto, Litton Das, and Mehidy Hasan Miraz were also present.
After Asif Nazrul stated that there was “no scope” for the Bangladesh team to travel to India due to unchanged security concerns, Bulbul addressed the media and spoke with emotion and conviction.
“We are proud of Bangladesh cricket, but we’re also thinking about the future of world cricket,” Bulbul said. “At a time when cricket is struggling to grow globally, leaving out a cricket-loving nation like Bangladesh would be a big loss for the ICC. We’re talking about a country of nearly 200 million people. We kept believing that one morning our fans would wake up to the news that Bangladesh is playing in the World Cup.”
He made it clear that the fight isn’t over yet. “We haven’t given up. We’ll talk to the ICC again today. All we want is for our boys to play in the World Cup. Right now, we don’t want to go to India. We want to play in Sri Lanka—and we’re ready. The team is ready.”
Earlier on Wednesday, the ICC rejected the BCB’s request to move Bangladesh’s matches out of India and decided to keep the original schedule unchanged. The ICC also asked the BCB to make a final decision within 24 hours, after consulting with the government, on whether the team would travel to India.
Bulbul wasn’t happy with that approach. “A global organisation can’t just give a 24-hour deadline like this,” he said. “We will keep fighting.”
He also pointed to a recent example to support Bangladesh’s case. “In February last year, a team chose not to play in the Champions Trophy due to security concerns. When their government informed the ICC, a neutral venue was arranged. They stayed in one hotel and played all their matches at one ground. That privilege was given.”
Talking about the current situation, Bulbul added, “We all talk about the hybrid model. Sri Lanka is being called a co-host, but in reality, they’re hosting matches under that hybrid system. We used that example and tried to convince the ICC again, saying this model exists because of security concerns and government decisions. Unfortunately, our request was rejected.”
Still, Bulbul remains hopeful. “We’ll try again today and explore every possible option to talk to the ICC. There was a vote yesterday—I won’t share the numbers because the ICC asked us not to—but a lot is being said in different places.”
For now, the message from the BCB is simple: Bangladesh wants to play, they are ready to play, and they’re not backing down without a fight.