BCB denies being given deadline to decide T20 World Cup participation in India: ‘No specific date told'

The BCB has repeatedly said there are security concerns about its team travelling to India for the tournament, set to begin on February 7. Hence, they demanded that matches be shifted to Sri Lanka. However, ICC reportedly is firm in its stance of not changing the original schedule, which sees Bangladesh playing all their matches in India - Kolkata and Mumbai.

The ESPNcricinfo report also claimed that the ICC also ignored Bangladesh's request to place them in Group B and swap Ireland into Group C. The talks concluded with the ICC telling the BCB to decide on its participation, or else be replaced in the tournament by another team, likely to be Scotland.

“Last Saturday, on January 17, an ICC representative came, and our cricket board representatives held a meeting with him. Regarding World Cup participation, there was an issue with the venue, and we informed them of our reluctance to play there. We requested an alternate venue, and we held detailed discussions with the representatives," the Daily Star quoted BCB media committee chairman Amjad Hossain as saying.

"They told us that they will inform the ICC about the issues and will let us know about the decision later on. In regard to these talks, they haven’t mentioned a specific date or when they will let us know. They just told us that they will let us know when the next discussion will take place. Thank you,” he added.

The BCB then issued a statement, confirming that they had indeed asked the ICC to consider swapping groups and placing Bangladesh in Ireland's place in Group B, allowing all the matches to proceed in Sri Lanka.

However, media reports later claimed that the ICC had informed Cricket Ireland that its group would not be changed for the tournament. Currently, Bangladesh are placed in Group C alongside England, Nepal, Italy and the West Indies and the side are slated to play three matches at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata and one in Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Bangladesh are scheduled to be in action on the opening day of the tournament as they are lined up to face the West Indies on February 7.

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