Youth and Sports Adviser Dr. Asif Nazrul spoke to pressmen at the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) Bhaban today. Photo: BSS

DHAKA, Jan 12, 2026 (BSS)- Youth and Sports Adviser Dr. Asif Nazrul said 
there is no atmosphere to play the T20 World Cup (WC) in India after 
receiving the letter from the International Cricket Council (ICC) security 
team.

The ICC security team recently sent a letter to the Bangladesh Cricket board 
regarding the security risks Bangladesh could face if it goes to India to 
play the T20 World Cup.

Speaking to the pressmen at the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) Bhaban 
today (Monday), Asif Nazrul said the ICC security team has mentioned three 
issues regarding the security risks of Bangladesh playing in India.

The ICC's concern regarding Bangladesh's security in the letter is that the 
security risk to the Bangladesh national cricket team will increase if 
Mustafizur Rahman is included in the Bangladesh team, if the supporters of 
the Bangladesh team walk around wearing the national jersey of Bangladesh and 
our national jersey and the third is that the closer the election comes, the 
more the security threat for the Bangladesh team will increase.

Asif Nazrul said this observation by the ICC's security team has proven 
beyond a doubt that there is no situation for Bangladesh to play the T20 
World Cup in India.

Terming the ICC's statement as bizarre and absurd, the Advisor said: "If the 
ICC expects us to make a cricket team without our best bowler, our supporters 
will not be able to wear the country's jersey and we'll postpone the national 
election to play cricket there can be no more bizarre, unrealistic and 
unreasonable expectation than that. We believe that the extreme communal 
situation prevailing in India and the anti-Bangladesh environment prevailing, 
especially the continuous anti-Bangladesh campaign that has been going on for 
the last sixteen months, In view of this, it has become impossible for 
Bangladesh to play cricket in India."

The Sports Adviser further said: "We believe that no one should have a 
monopoly on the game of cricket. The fate of a game cannot be determined 
based on market management. If the ICC is truly a global organization, then 
it should give us the opportunity to play in the T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka. 
We'll not accept any concession in this regard."

Finally, the sports advisor said, "Where a player from our team does not have 
a playing environment, when the National Cricket Board of India - a national 
authority, says that he (Mustafizur) should not be played here, what greater 
proof is there before the ICC than this. This proves beyond a doubt that we 
don't have a playing environment there. There is no playing environment 
anywhere in India."