Bangladesh won't accept unreasonable ICC conditions under pressure from India: Asif Nazrul

Youth and Sports Adviser Asif Nazrul today said Bangladesh will not accept any unreasonable conditions if the ICC creates pressure on the country "under the influence of the Indian Cricket Board".

“If the International Cricket Council (ICC) bows to pressure from the Indian Cricket Board and tries to impose any illogical condition on us, we will not accept,” he told reporters at the Secretariat.

Bangladesh cannot be forced to travel to India to play the T20 World Cup under pressure, he said.

Asked about a report by French news agency AFP which said Scotland would replace Bangladesh in the World Cup if the Bangladesh team refuses to go to India, the adviser said they have not officially heard any such decision.

“There are precedents in international cricket, when India refused to play in Pakistan, the ICC changed the venue. We have reasonably asked for a venue change,” he added.

Bangladesh recently informed the ICC that they would not travel to India for the tournament due to political tensions and requested their matches be moved to another venue.

A final decision on Bangladesh’s participation and travel to India is expected by Wednesday. The ICC has not clarified how it would select a replacement team if a participant withdraws.

Tensions escalated recently after Bangladeshi pacer Mustafizur Rahman was dropped from the IPL due to security threats, a concern reportedly validated by the ICC’s own “Internal Threat Assessment Report”.