Breaking: Bangladesh officially boycott ICC T20 World Cup 2026 – Pakistan next?

Bangladesh have officially announced that they will be boycotting the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, which will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.

The BCB vs BCCI issue, which started with Mustafizur Rahman’s snub from the IPL due to the growing anti-Bangladesh roar in the country, went on to take a massive shape as Bangladesh threatened the ICC to withdraw from the competition if their demands were not met accordingly.

Their foremost demand was not to travel to India, where their group-stage matches were scheduled to be held, and they had cited security reasons for the developments. However, the ICC reviewed the security arrangements and ruled out any risk for the team. They then also disregarded BCB’s plea for a venue swap.

Bangladesh government announces boycott of ICC T20 World Cup

The BCB had issued an ultimatum to the ICC that they would not budge an inch, and the ICC would have to comply with their demands. The ICC also refused to give up on the wrong demands from the BCB. The feud ultimately would have had to end with either one of the parties giving up or keeping their word.

The Bangladesh government, after the discussion with their players in the national setup and the BCB, has finally officially confirmed that their team would not travel to India for the ICC tournament and hence, they are boycotting the upcoming T20 World Cup.

“We cannot give up our players’ security,” says Sports Advisor Asif Nazrul.

“ICC had denied us our request to shift our matches away from India. We are not sure about the status of world cricket. Its popularity is going down. They have locked away 200million people. Cricket is going to the Olympics, but if a country like us is not going there, it is the ICC’s failure. We will continue to communicate with the ICC. We want to play in the World Cup. But we won’t play in India,” the BCB President stated.

“We will keep fighting. There were some shocking calls in the ICC Board Meeting. The Mustafizur issue is not an isolated single issue. They (India) were the sole decision-makers in that issue.”