Former India cricketer Manoj Tiwary has expressed strong views amid Bangladesh's anxiety over traveling to India for the forthcoming T20 World Cup, stating that sporting relations should not be maintained when humanitarian concerns are involved.
His words came amid recent tensions in Bangladesh, including attacks on the Hindu community and an increase in anti-India sentiments.
Bangladeshi pacer Mustafizur Rahman was recently dismissed from the KKR franchise prior to the IPL 2026 on the BCCI's directions, following public protests to his participation in the IPL. In retaliation, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has refused to sendthe Bangladesh team to India for the T20 World Cup 2026 and has written to ICC to move their games out of India to Sri Lanka or Pakistan.
Manoj Tiwary stated that his sentiments about India not having any sporting relations with countries where Indians are prosecuted.
"When the Pahalgam terrorist attack happened, I had said that India should not play against Pakistan. Even though the government allowed it, my opinion was, and still is, that such matches should not happen.
If any Indian is killed mercilessly in any country, whether it is Bangladesh, England, Australia, or anywhere else, then India should not maintain sporting relations with that country," Tiwary told ANI.
Tiwary further expressed, "Sports should not be mixed with such serious matters, but these matches will still be conducted because games were allowed against Pakistan earlier. Even now, they will go ahead, but my personal opinion is very clear: they should not play.”
Bangladesh's Youth and Sports Adviser Asif Nazrul has stated that there is "no atmosphere to play" the T20 World Cup in India, citing a "letter" from the International Cricket Council (ICC) security team, according to the state news agency BSS on Monday.
According to International Cricket Council (ICC) sources on Monday, independent risk assessments conducted by globally recognized security experts do not conclude that Bangladesh cannot play its scheduled Twenty20 World Cup matches in India.
They point out that the overall security risk for the tournament in India has been assessed as low to moderate, which is consistent with the profile of many major international sporting events.
(ANI inputs)
