BCB lifts lid on T20 World Cup snub, admits it ‘wanted to play’ but ‘this is the government's decision'

BCB's director Abdur Razzak stated that the decision to withdraw from the T20 WC 2026 was due to the government's refusal to grant travel clearance to India.

Bangladesh Cricket Board director Abdur Razzak has insisted the board always wanted to send the team to the T20 World Cup 2026, but said the final call was taken out of the BCB’s hands once the country’s government refused to grant travel clearance for India.

BCB director says, they wanted to send the team to T20 World Cup. (PTI)

With Scotland drafted in as Bangladesh’s replacement, the former Bangladesh all-rounder framed the stand-off as an administrative reality rather than a cricketing preference, and underlined that overseas tours, in Bangladesh’s system, cannot proceed without government approval.

“We have always said that we want to play, but this is the government's decision,” the news agency quoted Razzak as saying. “So, we have to follow whatever the government tells us. And the decision that has been given away by the government is not just for this time; whenever we have any tour, we have to get clearance from the government beforehand.”

BCB’s stance comes after weeks of back-and-forth around Bangladesh’s request for a change in venue for their scheduled matches in India. The board has pushed for a shift to Sri Lanka, repeatedly pointing to security concerns and the broader political temperature around cross-border travel. The ICC, however, held its line that the even schedule would not be amended after its own reviews.

That stalemate ended with Bangladesh failing to confirm participation on the published fixtures - triggering the tournament organiser to move to a replacement, with Scotland next in line. Scotland now take Bangladesh’s place in Group C alongside England, West Indies, Nepal, and Italy, with the 20-team tournament set to begin on February 7.

Razzak’s comments, though, also signal something bigger than one tournament. By putting the spotlight on mandatory government clearance for any tour, he has effectively placed the issue into a wider policy bracket - a reminder that cricket boards often operate inside state-controlled travel rules.

For the ICC and host board, the message is equally clear: once a schedule is published, the threshold for change is extremely high, especially this close to the start.