Bangladesh Cricket Board president Tamim Iqbal has admitted that the country could have handled the T20 World Cup issue better, saying the negotiations surrounding their withdrawal from the tournament reached a “point of no return” too early.
Bangladesh pulled out of the 2026 T20 World Cup, citing security concerns after Mustafizur Rahman was released by Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of the Indian Premier League. The decision came amid heightened tensions between Bangladesh and India.
Tamim, however, believes Bangladesh should have approached the situation differently and negotiated more carefully.
“I feel that we could have negotiated the thing much better. Look, Mustafizur’s issue was obviously something that the whole country was disappointed with. And I say today as well, I said that day too, it should never have happened. This was in no way the right thing to do, this should never have been done,” Tamim was quoted as saying by sports platform Not Out Noman.
“But we are going to play a World Cup. Every single person in Bangladesh celebrated like anything when we first qualified for the World Cup. It may be that now every two years a T20 World Cup happens, or every four years it happens, but it is a World Cup Bangladesh is going to represent.
“So, I feel we probably could have dealt with it better. We went to a point of no return right from the beginning.”
Tamim said there were several details from the negotiations that he could not reveal publicly, insisting that doing so would surprise many people.
“I am saying this, I am in the ICC now, I am an ICC member because of BCB. There were a lot of things said and done during those negotiations, which, if I make public, you will be surprised,” he said.
“I won’t be able to do it because I need to maintain that respect. You will be surprised at what things were said, but let’s not go into that discussion.”
SPORTS SHOULD STAY AWAY FROM POLITICS
Tamim also argued that sporting matters should not always be dragged into political disputes, especially when a resolution remains possible.
“If you go to a point of no return on the very first day, then that (solution) won’t happen. And I feel in some cases, sports should remain as sports,” he said.
“Whatever is going on, whoever is going to which country, in which country the match should be played, I am not going into that detail. I feel that in some cases, we should treat sports as sports.”
Tamim pointed to Iran playing in the United States during an ongoing war as an example of sporting engagements continuing despite serious political tensions.
“Unfortunately, we sometimes might not be staying within this line. We often drag sports with other aspects as well,” he said.
Tamim reiterated his belief that Bangladesh should have played the T20 World Cup and handled the negotiations in a more measured manner.
“We should have definitely played the World Cup. We should have definitely done the negotiation in a better way. And that’s it, I cannot say many things even though I know them,” he said.
INDIA SERIES STILL NOT OFF THE TABLE
Tamim’s comments come at a time when the BCB and BCCI are also trying to find a new window for India’s proposed tour of Bangladesh.
India were scheduled to play three ODIs and three T20Is in August and September, but the series will not take place in the previously discussed window.
Despite speculation that the tour could be scrapped altogether because of the political situation between the two countries, Tamim said both boards remain in regular communication and are hopeful of finding new dates.
“That it (India series) won’t happen hasn’t been decided yet,” Tamim said.
“Both boards are very sincere that this thing happens. Both BCCI and BCB and we are looking at windows as well, which time what can be done. Roughly a date, around which we are also thinking whether it can be done at this time or not.”
Tamim added that both boards have positive intentions and are continuing to work around their respective schedules.
“If I saw the intention was negative, then today I wouldn’t even have said this word to you, ‘Let’s see what happens, we’re hopeful.’ Intentions are very positive,” he said.
– Ends
