India's bilateral cricket ties with Bangladesh have been dented by some unfortunate turn of events in recent months.
Earlier this year, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had made a plea to relocate their T20 World Cup 2026 matches to Sri Lanka citing ‘security concerns’ for their players in India, following diplomatic tensions between two nations and the release of Mustafizur Rahman by IPL franchise KKR on BCCI’s instructions.
However, the ICC turned down the request, saying no such verifiable threat existed while also stating the logistical difficulty of altering the schedule close to the global showpiece. Bangladesh maintained their stand and were later replaced by Scotland in the 20-team tournament.
Since then, a lot has changed in the BCB administration, with former opener Tamim Iqbal being appointed as the head of the board’s committee.
With Tamim keen to repair relations, there is a possibility of bilateral cricket ties resumption between India and Bangladesh.
Notably, the BCCI had postponed its white-ball tour of Bangladesh last year due to unrest in the neighbouring nation.
Meanwhile, BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia on Friday (June 19) clarified that the board will purely follow the Government of India’s directives regarding the resumption of bilateral and multinational sporting ties with Bangladesh.
"The BCCI is a cricketing controlling board, and we have nothing to do with what is going on politically in other countries," Saikia told PTI.
"As the BCCI, we follow whatever policy the Government of India has in place regarding participation in bilateral and multinational sporting events. Whatever regulations and policies the central government frames, we follow them, just like any other sports federation, whether it is football, athletics or any other sport," he explained.
Saikia made it clear that it doesn't bother the BCCI one bit as to which political party is running the government in Bangladesh.
"We are not concerned with who is running the government in a particular country, whether it is democratically elected, undemocratically elected or an autocratic government. That is none of our business."
"Our job is to run cricket. Whenever there is a scheduled tour to a foreign country for bilateral matches, we will proceed according to our plans and schedules," Saikia said.
On a separate note, Devajit Saikia confirmed that India’s strategic roadmap and discussions surrounding veteran batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma for the 2027 World Cup are confidential and confined to internal boardroom meetings.
"As the head of the board, we have a very well-knit team and a lot of experts. All stakeholders are taken on board. Whatever decisions are made involve the cricket committee, the selectors and all other stakeholders, including the support staff, the head coach and the players concerned. There are regular conversations taking place."
"For that reason, we do not need any special session of interaction. This is an ongoing process. Further, I do not think I should disclose anything before the media or the public because these are strategic discussions. I am not authorised to speak about them before the media. Secondly, these are matters that should remain within the boardroom," Saikia stated.
Both Kohli and Rohit have expressed their desire to play the 2027 tournament, where they will be 39 and 40 years old, respectively. However, chief selector Ajit Agarkar and the team management remain non-committal on their spots, prompting varied debates among experts and fans.
(With PTI Inputs)
