The International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 will proceed as scheduled with Bangladesh’s matches to be played in India.
The decision was made during an ICC Board meeting on Wednesday, 21 January via video conference, which was held to discuss the way forward after the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) requested to move its matches from India to Sri Lanka.
The decision came after reviewing all security assessments, including independent reviews, which indicated there was no threat to Bangladesh players, media personnel, officials, and fans at any tournament venues in the country.
It was noted that making changes so close to the tournament was not feasible and that altering the schedule without a credible security threat could set a precedent that might compromise the integrity of future ICC events and its neutrality as a global governing body.
The ICC management also engaged in extensive correspondence and meetings with the BCB to resolve the issue, providing detailed information on the event security plan, including federal and state law-enforcement support.
An ICC spokesperson’s statement in relation to the decision read: “Over the past several weeks, the ICC has engaged with the BCB in sustained and constructive dialogue, with the clear objective of enabling Bangladesh’s participation in the tournament. During this period, the ICC has shared detailed inputs, including independent security assessments, comprehensive venue-level security plans and formal assurances from the host authorities, all of which consistently concluded that there is no credible or verifiable threat to the safety or security of the Bangladesh team in India."
“Despite these efforts, the BCB maintained its position, repeatedly linking its participation in the tournament to a single, isolated and unrelated development concerning one of its player’s involvement in a domestic league. This linkage has no bearing on the tournament’s security framework or the conditions governing participation in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
“The ICC’s venue and scheduling decisions are guided by objective threat assessments, host guarantees, and the tournament’s agreed terms of participation, which apply uniformly to all 20 competing nations. In the absence of any independent security findings that materially compromise the safety of the Bangladesh team, the ICC is unable to relocate fixtures. Doing so would carry significant logistical and scheduling consequences for other teams and fans worldwide, and would also create far-reaching precedent-related challenges that risk undermining the neutrality, fairness, and integrity of ICC governance.
“The ICC remains committed to acting in good faith, upholding consistent standards, and safeguarding the collective interests of the global game."
Source: News18