The International Cricket Council (ICC) recently rejected Bangladesh Cricket Board’s (BCB) plea to relocate its team’s T20 World Cup 2026 fixtures to Sri Lanka.

While BCB had cited 'security concerns' in India to move its matches to Sri Lanka, the apex body categorially stated that there was no threat to Bangladesh players, media persons, officials and fans at any tournament venues in the neighboring country.

The ICC was clear in its communication to the BCB, stating that if they decide not to travel to India, they would be replaced by the next-best-ranked team in Group C, which is likely to be Scotland.

Despite the warning, the BCB remained firm in its stance of boycotting the upcoming T20 World Cup in India.

As Bangladesh stand on the brink of being snubbed from the marquee event, the country's sports advisor, Asif Nazrul, made a surprise appearance at the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) final on Friday (January 23).

Nazrul went on a rant on Live TV as he once again demanded the team's T20 World Cup matches to be shifted from India to Sri Lanka.

"Bangladeshi people, they love cricket, and the huge presence of the spectators is a testament to this," Nazrul said during the interview. "And this was actually much needed because, you know, quite recently Bangladesh has been on the verge of being excluded from the T20 World Cup."

"They have the right to play there, but they are being excluded. So in such a special time, the huge presence of spectators will definitely encourage Bangladesh cricket and cricketers," he added.

For Nazrul, the jam-packed crowd in Dhaka during the BPL final was a 'message' to the global cricketing fraternity amid the current standoff.

"We've got, I think, a huge presence of advisors," Nazrul said. "You can hear the sound and how popular cricket is in Bangladesh. Actually, half of the advisers who are present in Dhaka City tonight have turned up today, and it carries a special message."

BCB took the stance of not travelling to India after IPL franchise KKR released left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman from their squad on BCCI’s instructions. The Indian board made this move earlier this month amidst atrocities on minorities in Bangladesh.