The ICC’s board convened on Wednesday and subsequently declared that its security evaluations revealed “no threat to Bangladesh players, media personnel, officials, and fans at any of the tournament venues in India.”
The World Cup is set to be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka from February 7 to March 8. Bangladesh is slated to play three group matches in Kolkata and one in Mumbai.
According to Cricinfo.com, the BCB has just one more day to confirm its participation in India; otherwise, Scotland will take its place based on the current rankings.
Pakistan is already confirmed to play all its group matches in Sri Lanka — and possibly beyond if it progresses in the tournament — due to political tensions with India that brought both nations close to conflict last year.
Bangladesh requested the move for security reasons after fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman was dropped from the Kolkata Knight Riders under instructions from the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
The ICC described Rahman’s removal as an “isolated and unrelated event.”
The board meeting was conducted via video link, with Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Aminul Islam among the participants.
The ICC stated it had communicated security details for the tournament to Bangladesh and emphasized that relocating its matches would be unfair to other teams.
