DHAKA: Bangladesh will request their matches at next month’s T20 World Cup be played in Sri Lanka, after India forced a Bangladeshi player to quit the Indian Premier League.
“We will not accept any insult to Bangladeshi cricket, cricketers and Bangladesh under any circumstances,” said Asif Nazrul, Youth and Sports Adviser in the interim government, in a statement carried by the state-run BSS news agency Sunday.
“The days of slavery are over.”
Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman was on Saturday released by the Kolkata Knight Riders after the IPL team were “advised” by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to do so, following tensions between the neighboring nations.
Nazrul said he had ordered the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) to write to the International Cricket Council (ICC).
“The board should inform that, where a Bangladeshi cricketer cannot play in India despite being contracted, the entire Bangladeshi cricket team cannot feel safe going to play in the World Cup,” he wrote.
“I have also instructed the board to request that Bangladesh’s World Cup matches should be held in Sri Lanka.”
The T20 World Cup begins on February 7, co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka. Bangladesh are scheduled to play their four group matches in India.
Pakistan will play all their matches in Sri Lanka, part of a deal that allows both India and Pakistan to play at neutral venues in multi-nation tournaments.
Political relations between India and Bangladesh soured after a mass uprising in Dhaka in 2024 toppled then prime minister Sheikh Hasina, a close ally of New Delhi.
India’s foreign ministry last month condemned what it called “unremitting hostility against minorities” in Muslim-majority Bangladesh.
Bangladesh’s interim leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, has accused India of exaggerating the scale of the violence.
BCB president Aminul Islam Bulbul said the board will hold an emergency meeting later on Sunday.
“The dignity and security of our cricketers are our top priorities, and we will take a decision at the appropriate time keeping these in mind,” he told reporters late Saturday.
Mustafizur, who has previously played in the IPL for other teams, was snapped up at auction in December by Kolkata for more than $1 million.
But BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia said that “considering recent developments” Kolkata had been “advised to release” the 30-year-old.
The 2026 IPL season begins on March 26.
Nazrul said he would also ask that the IPL be blocked from Bangladeshi broadcasters.
“I have requested the Information and Broadcasting Adviser to stop the broadcasting of the IPL tournament in Bangladesh,” he said.
Kolkata, majority-owned by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, subsequently said that Mustafizur’s “release has been carried out following due process and consultations.”
