“We are not giving up. We will continue to push for playing the World Cup in Sri Lanka,” he said.
On Thursday, Youth and Sports Adviser Asif Nazrul held a meeting with the national team players, after which he conveyed the government’s decision not to participate in the World Cup in India.
Later, Bulbul told reporters that the BCB will once again try to convince the International Cricket Council (ICC) to allow Bangladesh to play in Sri Lanka.
“We take pride in Bangladesh cricket, but we have concerns about global cricket. The sport’s popularity is declining. If the ICC wants to hold a World Cup excluding a cricket-loving country like Bangladesh, that is their failure. We will continue to try to play in the World Cup. Our team is ready; we just do not want to go to India. We want to play in Sri Lanka.” Bulbul said.
He added that a board meeting was held by the ICC on Wednesday regarding Bangladesh’s participation, where the country’s demand to play in Sri Lanka was rejected in a vote.
The ICC later gave the BCB an ultimatum, asking for a decision within 24 hours on whether Bangladesh would travel to India. Bulbul criticized the ICC’s move, saying, “As a global organization, the ICC cannot impose time limits like this.”
Bulbul also linked the exclusion of Mustafizur Rahman from the IPL to security concerns, emphasizing that it is not an isolated or irrelevant matter.
“After Mustafizur was excluded from the IPL, we started discussions with the ICC. His exclusion was due to security risks. Later, through the government, we learned that security is a major issue for the T20 World Cup in India. We have communicated with the ICC at various levels and highlighted incidents from the 1996 and 2003 World Cups,” he said.
Citing last year’s Champions Trophy, Bulbul highlighted how security concerns forced a country to refuse participation, leading the ICC to move their matches to neutral venues.
“We will again try to convince the ICC that security concerns justify relocating Bangladesh’s World Cup matches outside India,” he added.
