Resolve or get replaced: ICC issues blunt warning to Bangladesh amid T20 World Cup venue row

PTC News Desk: The International Cricket Council has issued a blunt warning to Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) to either play in India or risk getting replaced by a lower-ranked team

The ICC’s ultimatum came just a day after Bangladesh put forward an unexpected proposal, asking the global cricket body to move them into a different group in the T20 World Cup so they could avoid playing matches in India. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) made this position public after meeting with an ICC delegation that had travelled to Dhaka to address the ongoing dispute.

The issue centres on Bangladesh’s refusal—so far—to play their scheduled group-stage fixtures in India, even though the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup is officially being co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka from February 7 to March 8, 2026. According to the match schedule released by the ICC in November, Bangladesh’s group was assigned to Indian venues: Kolkata’s Eden Gardens and Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium.

The BCB has justified its stance as a matter of security, saying it does not want its players travelling to India for the tournament. The ICC, however, has indicated it is not willing to alter the tournament structure at this late stage. Sources say the ICC believes there is no valid basis to shift Bangladesh’s matches.

With the tournament only weeks away, the deadlock has grown more serious, prompting the ICC to intervene directly in order to prevent a crisis that could set a problematic precedent.

The situation escalated further when the BCCI asked Kolkata Knight Riders on January 3 to terminate Mustafizur Rahman’s IPL contract, citing “developments all around,” a decision that came amid political tensions in India over reports of attacks on minorities in Bangladesh.