Summary The three-man committee will look into all aspects of the decision that led to Bangladesh being removed from the tournament by the ICC.
DHAKA (Web Desk) - The Bangladesh government has formed a committee to look into the previous government's decision to not allow the team to play its 2026 T20 World Cup matches in India, a move that led to Bangladesh being removed from the tournament in February and March.
The sports ministry made an announcement on Monday that additional secretary Dr AKM Wali Ullah will head the committee that includes chief selector Habibul Bashar, the former Bangladesh captain, and Faisal Dastagir. The trio has been asked to look into all matters related to Bangladesh not sending a team to the T20 World Cup. They will be expected to submit a report within 15 working days.
The sequence of events that culminated in Bangladesh missing the tournament began on January 3, when the BCCI directed Kolkata Knight Riders to remove Mustafizur Rahman from their IPL 2026 squad for an unspecified reason, at a time when relations between the Indian and Bangladeshi governments were strained.
In the next 24 hours, Asif Nazrul, Bangladesh's sports adviser (minister) at the time, posted on his official Facebook account that he wanted the ICC to move Bangladesh's T20 World Cup matches out of India and to Sri Lanka. Nazrul was an adviser in Bangladesh's interim government that was formed in August 2024 after a student-led uprising toppled the Awami League regime.
"I have asked the BCB to explain the entire matter to the ICC," Nazrul wrote on his official Facebook page on January 4. "The board should inform that where a Bangladeshi cricketer cannot play in India despite being contracted, the entire Bangladeshi cricket team cannot feel safe going to play in the World Cup. I have also instructed the Board to request that Bangladesh's World Cup matches be held in Sri Lanka."
After the BCB informed the ICC that Bangladesh would not play in India, the ICC said that was not acceptable because it felt there were no valid security concerns. The impasse continued even after an ICC delegation visited Bangladesh to discuss the issue.
On January 24, after the ICC board had met and dismissed Bangladesh's demand to play their matches in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh were removed from the tournament and replaced by Scotland.
The day before the national elections in Bangladesh, Nazrul made a u-turn, saying he had not made any of the decisions to withdraw Bangladesh from the T20 World Cup, and laid the responsibility on the players.
When the new government was formed, the sports minister Aminul Haque said he wanted to repair Bangladesh's sporting relationship with India. He also said in parliament that he wanted a proper investigation into the manner in which the T20 World Cup issue had been handled by the BCB and the previous government.
