T20 World Cup row: Bangladesh says ICC, Indian government made ‘no effort’ to reassure on security; hopes for ‘justice’ | Cricket News

NEW DELHI: Bangladesh on Thursday hardened its position on the T20 World Cup after the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) stood by its decision not to travel to India for the tournament, with the government saying neither the ICC nor the BCCI made any effort to reassure them on player security.Bangladesh sports advisor Asif Nazrul said the ICC and the BCCI failed to convince the BCB that adequate security would be provided for Bangladesh players, journalists and supporters during the tournament, which will be hosted in India and Sri Lanka.

Earlier, the ICC on Wednesday gave Bangladesh a final ultimatum to confirm travel to India or risk being replaced, stating that security assessments found no credible threat to the safety of Bangladesh players, officials or fans. Bangladesh was asked to communicate its final decision by Thursday. Scotland is next in line for a place in the tournament based on rankings. The T20 World Cup begins on February 7.The ICC hadalso rejected Bangladesh’s security concerns, saying the BCB was repeatedly linking its participation to a “single, isolated and unrelated development” involving one of its players in a domestic league.After meeting national team players on Thursday, Nazrul said the ICC’s position was not acceptable to Bangladesh.“While our cricketers have worked hard to qualify for the World Cup, the security risk regarding playing in India remains unchanged. This concern is not based on abstract analysis…,” Nazrul said at a press conference while confirming that Bangladesh would not play in India.“…we are not convinced that they can ensure the safety of our entire team, journalists, and spectators,” he added.Nazrul said the meeting with the players was meant to explain the government’s stand. “The purpose of the meeting was simply to explain to the players why the government took this decision and give them the context. I believe they understood. That was the purpose – nothing else,” he said.“I think we did not get justice from ICC. Whether we will play in the World Cup or not is entirely a government decision. Nothing happened in India in the recent past that suggests things have changed there (security- wise). We hope ICC will give us justice.”Nazrul said Bangladesh wanted to play the tournament but remained unconvinced about security in India. “All of us want to play the T20 World Cup because our players have earned this through hard work. But the security risk situation in India has not changed. The security concerns did not arise from speculation or theoretical analysis. They arose from a real incident – where one of our country’s top players was forced to bow to extremists, and the Indian cricket board asked him to leave India. Simply put, he was told to leave.”“Now this ICC tournament is being held in India. No matter how much the ICC says there is no security risk, the ICC does not have its own country. The country where my player was not safe that is the country hosting this tournament,” he added.Nazrul said responsibility for security would rest with the host nation. “Security will be the responsibility of that country’s police and security agencies. So what has changed since that incident that would make us believe that there will be no extremist flare-ups again? They could not protect Mustafizur – so what has changed? How can we be convinced that they can protect our players, journalists and supporters?”He also said the ICC and Indian authorities did not engage with Bangladesh on the issue. “The ICC has made no effort to convince us. They ignored the real incident and only talked about their standard security procedures. They did not take a proper position on the actual grievance.”“Even the Indian government made no effort to convince us by saying the incident involving Mustafizur was isolated, or that they were sorry, or that they were taking steps. They made no effort to contact us, no effort to reassure us about the safety of our journalists, spectators and players. Therefore, there is no scope for changing our decision.”BCB president Aminul Islam also criticised the ICC’s approach. “A world organisation cannot impose a 24-hour ultimatum. We will keep fighting,” he said.