The sports ministry has advised the BCB to pursue moving the T20 World Cup league games from India to Sri Lanka due to “concerns regarding player safety” following Mustafizur Rahman’s release from the IPL as directed by the BCCI.
Bangladesh’s four league matches are scheduled against West Indies (February 7), Italy (February 9), England (February 14) in Kolkata, concluding with their last game against Nepal (February 17) in Mumbai.
The T20 tournament will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka from February 7 to March 8.
Das remains the captain, with pacer Taskin Ahmed returning to the team after missing the recent series against Ireland. He will join Rahman, who is also included in the squad, in the pace attack.
“The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has announced the national squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka from 7 February to 8 March,” the BCB announced on ‘X’.
In response to the BCCI’s directive, Shah Rukh Khan’s IPL team, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), released Rahman on Saturday, who was acquired for Rs 9.20 crore during last month’s auction in Abu Dhabi.
This prompted Bangladesh government advisor Asif Nazrul to direct the BCB to request the ICC, led by Jay Shah, to relocate Bangladesh’s four league matches to Sri Lanka.
However, a BCCI source asserted that such a shift is nearly impossible with only a month remaining before the tournament.
While the BCCI did not explicitly reference the current political circumstances in Bangladesh for their decision regarding Rahman’s release, they stated that the decision was influenced by ongoing events.
Bangladesh squad: Litton Das (Captain), Mohammed Saif Hassan (Vice Captain), Tanzid Hasan, Mohammad Parvez Hossain Emon, Tawhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain, Qazi Nurul Hasan Sohan, Shak Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Nasum Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Taskin Ahmed, Md Shaifuddin, Shoriful Islam.
