'Not at the cost of national humiliation': Bangladesh press for venue shift

Asif Nazrul, Bangladesh government's sports advisor, said on Wednesday that he would try his best to convince the International Cricket Council (ICC) to relocate Bangladesh's venues for the ICC T20 World Cup, insisting that the governing body of the sport had failed to grasp the gravity of Bangladesh's concerns.

Cricbuzz had earlier reported that Nazrul was expected to meet with BCB directors to assess the situation after the board received a letter from the ICC, following Bangladesh's formal request for a venue change. The BCB had informed the ICC that Bangladesh were unable to travel to India in the aftermath of the recent controversy surrounding Mustafizur Rahman, after the BCCI asked Kolkata Knight Riders to release the Bangladesh pacer.

While the ICC, in its response to the BCB, maintained a status quo on Bangladesh's World Cup fixtures and indicated that it had received no information suggesting security concerns for Bangladesh during the tournament, Nazrul strongly disagreed.

"We sat together with the BCB directors - Bulbul [Aminul Islam] bhai, Faruque bhai and everyone else. Today we discussed the situation and we all agreed that Bangladesh earned qualification for the T20 World Cup through hard work. We are a cricket-crazy nation and we definitely want to play," Nazrul told reporters after the meeting on Wednesday.

"But we do not want to play the World Cup at the cost of national humiliation, at the cost of the security of our cricketers, spectators and journalists, or at the cost of the country's dignity. After reading the letter we received from the ICC today, it felt to us that they have not fully understood the serious security situation that has developed in India for Bangladeshi cricketers," he said.

"To me, it does not feel like only a security issue - it feels like an issue of national humiliation as well. Still, we are primarily treating it as a security issue. When the Indian cricket board itself is telling the Kolkata team that they cannot provide security to this player [Mustafizur], and asking them to drop him from the team - that alone shows there is no environment in India where it is safe to play," he said.

"We do not want to go into the wider communal situation in India. But when it comes to the security of our cricketers, the security of Bangladesh, and the honour and dignity of Bangladesh - there will be no compromise. We want to play cricket, we want to play the World Cup, and since there is another host country, Sri Lanka, we want to play there. We are firm on this position.

"Why we are firm on this position? We hope we will be able to explain that to the ICC. And we hope the ICC will consider our arguments impartially and allow us to play in the T20 World Cup that we have earned through hard work," he said.

"Our first stand is to convince the ICC. We have strong arguments and we will convince them with those arguments. The core principle of our stand is that on the question of Bangladesh's security, Bangladesh's honour and Bangladesh's dignity, there will be no compromise. But we definitely want to play the Cricket World Cup," Nazrul said.

Nazrul added that Bangladesh would decide on its future course of action based on the ICC's response.

"The letter [to ICC] will be sent tonight or by tomorrow morning and after that, whatever the situation becomes, we will sit and take a decision. So far, our decision is clear: we will explain to the ICC that there is no environment in India for us to play safely," he said.

BCB president Aminul Islam echoed the sentiments expressed by Nazrul, reiterating that the board's concerns extended beyond the players alone.

"You have heard that we told the ICC how important our security concerns are. We do have the ability to look after the players. But beyond that, there is a large group involved - journalists, sponsors, and cricket-loving spectators. Ensuring security for everyone is not possible for the board alone, which is why we are seeking government directives. For any overseas tour, we need a government order. We came to inquire about that order. If safety and security are not improved, we will continue to fight for our rights in this World Cup," said Bulbul.

"We are talking about reasonable issues. We have played in so many World Cups - have we ever raised such concerns before? It is because we genuinely felt the need this time that we raised it strongly," he said.

"We will explain this to the ICC, just as our honourable minister has said. There have been similar events in the past due to security issues. The very reason for hybrid tournaments is security. We hope we will be able to establish our reasons properly.

"India did not go to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy. Pakistan will not go to India either. We hope to get a proper answer [from ICC]," he said.

Aminul also dismissed reports suggesting that the ICC had already ruled out relocating Bangladesh's matches to Sri Lanka.

"There is a propaganda going around that the ICC has said playing in Sri Lanka is not possible. I would call that propaganda - false news. We have had one communication with the ICC. They asked what the issues were, and we informed them. We will now send them in writing what those issues are," he concluded.