By Admin 
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on Sunday decided not to send its national team to India for next month’s T20 World Cup, citing security concerns and government advice. The decision was taken after IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) ‘released’ fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman on the instructions of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
The BCCI did not explicitly mention the existing relations between the two countries in its decision to ‘release’ Rahman on Saturday, but said the move was motivated by current events.
After Rahman was suddenly dropped from the IPL, the BCB called an emergency meeting on Saturday night and announced a day later that in the re-meeting of the board of directors, it has been decided that the national team will not go to India for the T20 World Cup starting on February 7.
“The Board has conducted a detailed review of the situation taking into account the developments over the past 24 hours and expressed deep concern over the current circumstances relating to the participation of the Bangladesh national team in matches played in India,” the BCB said in a statement.
“Considering the growing concerns over the security of the Bangladesh team in India and an assessment of the current situation, as well as the advice of the Government of Bangladesh, the Board of Directors has decided that the Bangladesh national team will not travel to India for the tournament under the current circumstances,” he said.
After the meeting, BCB director Khalid Masood Pilot said on the board’s security concerns over playing in India, “If they (India) cannot provide security to one of our players (referring to Mustafizur), how will they ensure the security of our entire team?” That’s why we won’t go there to play.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) will have to pay attention to this issue because Bangladesh has to play all four of its league stage matches in India. Like the agreement with Pakistan, Bangladesh also wants all its matches to be shifted to tournament co-host Sri Lanka.
According to a BCB statement, “BCB has formally requested the World Cup organizer ICC to consider shifting all Bangladesh matches to another venue outside India (co-host Sri Lanka).”
BCB expects ICC to understand the situation and respond immediately on this matter. Even before BCB issued the statement, government advisor Asif Nazrul announced on Facebook that the board has decided not to send its team to India.
His post shared in Bengali language read, “Bangladesh will not go to India to play the World Cup. Bangladesh Cricket Board has taken this decision today. We welcome this decision taken in the context of the violent communal policy of the Indian Cricket Board.
After the emergency BCB meeting, Nazrul directed the board to request the Jay Shah-led ICC to shift Bangladesh’s four league matches (three in Kolkata and one in Mumbai) to Sri Lanka.
Nazrul wrote in Bengali on his Facebook page, “As the advisor in charge of the Sports Ministry, I have instructed the Board of Control for Cricket to clarify this entire matter in writing to the ICC.”
He said, “The board has to make it clear that if a player cannot play in India despite having a contract, then the Bangladesh national team cannot feel safe traveling to India to play the World Cup.”
“I have also directed the board to formally request that Bangladesh’s World Cup matches be held in Sri Lanka,” Nazrul said.
Kolkata Knight Riders, the IPL franchise co-owned by Shah Rukh Khan, ‘released’ the Bangladesh left-arm fast bowler following instructions from the BCCI. The franchise had bought Mustafizur for Rs 9.20 crore in the auction held in Abu Dhabi last month.
Relations between the two countries became tense after Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted from power. Sheikh Hasina had come to India in August last year after anti-government protests.
A Bangladesh court had sentenced him to death. He was accused of playing an alleged role in the deadly crackdown during the movement, in which several students were killed.
The situation has worsened due to the increasing cases of violence against Hindus in Bangladesh recently. Nazrul also said that he has requested the advisor of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of Bangladesh to suspend the telecast of IPL in Bangladesh. He said, “I have requested the advisor of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to suspend the telecast of IPL in Bangladesh.”
He said, “Under no circumstances will we tolerate any insult to Bangladesh cricket, cricketers or Bangladesh. The days of slavery are over now.
There is some surprise in the corridors of BCB that the situation changed in this way after India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar attended the funeral of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia in Dhaka.
“Considering the positive atmosphere, BCB had announced the schedule of India’s tour of Bangladesh, but now we need an official confirmation from the Indian board as to why Mustafizur’s contract was cancelled,” a BCB source told PTI on condition of anonymity.