No specific threat to Bangladesh team in India, says ICC security assessment

Bangladesh sports adviser reiterates security concerns about playing matches in India

ESPNcricinfo staff

12-Jan-2026 • 6 hrs ago

The ICC has shared a security assessment with Bangladesh which indicates no specific or heightened threat to their cricket team in India for the 2026 T20 World Cup. The assessment, an internal one, was shared with the BCB's security team and concluded there was no overall threat to the side, but pointed to low to moderate risks in some venues and low to nil in others - standard ICC categorisations around the world that do not ordinarily constitute sufficient reason to move games.

The details of the security assessment, shared with the BCB last week, emerged after claims by Bangladesh sports adviser Asif Nazrul earlier on Monday that the ICC's assessment spelt out the difficulties in Bangladesh playing their 2026 T20 World Cup matches in India.

"We have sent two letters (to the ICC), after which the ICC security team have sent a letter," Nazrul, effectively the country's sports head, said on Monday. Nazrul said three factors were cited with potential security implications: Mustafizur Rahman's presence in the side, Bangladesh fans wearing team t-shirts in India and forthcoming elections in Bangladesh.

"So this statement of the ICC security team has proven beyond a doubt that there is no situation for the Bangladesh cricket team to play the T20 World Cup in India. If the ICC expects us to make a cricket team without our best bowler, our supporters will not be able to wear the Bangladesh jersey, and we will postpone the Bangladesh elections to play cricket, then there can be no more bizarre, unrealistic and unreasonable expectation than this."

For the moment, however, ESPNcricinfo understands that the ICC's position on the matter remains unchanged; that is that the match schedule has been finalised and made public and that all participating teams are expected to meet their obligations under the terms of participation of ICC events.

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ESPNcricinfo understands that the ICC views Nazrul's claims as misinterpretations of standard contingency planning and hypothetical scenarios, which are standard in such assessments, as outright statements of fact and actual risk. There is also no suggestion in the assessment that the ICC is setting conditions regarding player selections, or instructing fans to not move around in their team t-shirts, or that domestic elections should be postponed.

Another Bangladesh government official, as well as the BCB issued statements later, clarifying that the ICC's security assessment was not a response to Bangladesh's official request to move their T20 World Cup games out of India.

"The correspondence cited today by the Adviser for the Ministry of Youth & Sports was in reference to an internal communication between the BCB and the ICC's Security Department related to threat assessments for the Bangladesh team ahead of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup," the BCB said. "This does not constitute a formal response from the ICC to the BCB's request for the relocation of Bangladesh's matches outside India.

"The BCB reiterates that it has formally raised concerns regarding venue arrangements and has requested relocation of Bangladesh's matches outside India in the interest of the team's security. The Board confirms that it is still awaiting an official response from the ICC on this matter."

Bangladesh are currently scheduled to play their first three group matches in Kolkata and the final one in Mumbai. The venues became a problem once the BCCI instructed Kolkata Knight Riders to remove Mustafizur from its IPL 2026 squad. No reason has been specified for that, though relations between the two countries have deteriorated of late. Since then, Nazrul has been at the forefront of demands to move Bangladesh's games out of India.

Following Mustafizur's removal, the Bangladesh government banned the broadcast of the IPL in the country, and the BCB sent a letter to the ICC refusing to play its T20 World Cup matches in India.

The 2026 T20 World Cup, co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka, is scheduled to begin on February 7.

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