BCCI blamed for T20 World Cup fiasco involving Bangladesh, Pakistan: ‘If they released Mustafizur after…’

Basit Ali straight-up blamed the BCCI for the T20 World Cup row involving Pakistan, Bangladesh, and the ICC. Read on to know more.

Former Pakistan batter Basit Ali minced no words, straight-up blaming the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for the current T20 World Cup fiasco involving Bangladesh, Pakistan, and the International Cricket Council (ICC). On February 1, the Government of Pakistan announced that its team would not take the field against India in the tournament on February 15. The official confirmation might not have listed any reason, but everyone knew the decision was taken to express solidarity with Bangladesh, which was ousted from the tournament at the last minute.

Bangladesh's Mustafizur Rahman (AFP)

Bangladesh asked the ICC to change the venue of its matches out of India to Sri Lanka after pacer Mustafizur Rahman was released by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) due to a BCCI diktat. The Indian board said that the call was made owing to recent developments. Ever since Rahman was picked by KKR for INR 9.20 crore, there was unease among the public, and the franchise and co-owner, Shah Rukh Khan, came under fire for picking a Bangladeshi player amid the country's mood.

The last few months have seen multiple Hindus being killed in Bangladesh, leading to the relations getting strained between India and Bangladesh. The ouster of Rahman caused a ripple effect: the BCB first refused to travel to India for the tournament, only to be eventually shown the door by the ICC and replaced by Scotland.

Basit said that the situation would not have reached this far had the BCCI shown some maturity and made the official announcement after the T20 World Cup had ended.

“BCCI made one mistake by releasing Mustafizur Rahman early from the IPL. They could have let the matter cool down before making the announcement. If they did that after the World Cup, we wouldn't have been here,” Ali said on his YouTube channel.

“The mistake stemmed right there. This led to Bangladesh refusing to travel, and now Pakistan is putting its foot down,” he added.

India-Pakistan match

With Bangladesh being shown the door, Pakistan jumped into the mix, and as of now, the match between India and Pakistan won't take place on February 15. India are set to get two points after a walkover. Basit Ali believes that if the match doesn't take place, it is not a good sign for the sport's future.

"If Pakistan doesn't play India and the latter earns two points by forfeiture, it will damage cricket and the sport's future," he said.

If Pakistan doesn't eventually play India, they risk financial losses and ICC sanctions. However, Basit believes that such things wouldn't happen and that the PCB wouldn't suffer any loss, as the government would compensate them.

“Pakistan board doesn't have any monetary problems. The government has asked them to take such a call, and then they would also give PCB the money,” said Ali.

The T20 World Cup is set to be played across eight venues in India and Sri Lanka from February 7 to March 8. India and Pakistan are in Group A, while Bangladesh were to be in Group C, and after their refusal to come to India, they were replaced by Scotland.