‘BCB Chief Fell In Anti-India Trap’: Ex-Cricketer Explains Bangladesh Cricket’s ‘Major Setback’

Reports say political power play, not security, led Bangladesh to skip T20 World Cup 2026 in India, ex ACC CEO blames Asif Nazrul and ex BCB chief Aminul for the boycott

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is pushing hard to normalise cricketing ties with India. They pulled out of the T20 World Cup 2026 in India after their demand to play all their matches in Sri Lanka was turned down by the ICC. Months after the fiasco, the Bangladesh Government has made wholesale changes to the cricket administration, looking forward to reviving cricketing ties with the neighbours, under Tamim Iqbal as the interim board chief.

Amid lingering controversy over Bangladesh’s absence from the T20 World Cup in India, fresh claims have emerged that internal power play and political manoeuvring, rather than purely security concerns, derailed the national side’s participation in the global tournament.

If reports are to be believed, Asif Nazrul, the erstwhile interim government’s Sports Advisor, held the then BCB chief Aminul Islam Bulbul hostage, preventing the national team from travelling to India for the showpiece event.

Nazrul had initially stated that it was the government’s decision not to send the team for the tournament, citing safety concerns. However, he later claimed that the decision to withdraw from the T20 World Cup was made by the players and coaches of the national team.

Former Asian Cricket Council (ACC) CEO Ashraful Haque slammed Nazrul and Aminul, who was recently removed from his post by the BCB, over Bangladesh’s withdrawal from the T20 World Cup. Haque criticised Aminul for falling into Nazrul’s trap and accused the then-interim Sports Advisor of riding on anti-India sentiments in Bangladesh during that time to further a political agenda.

“I was surprised that Aminul Islam Bulbul walked into the trap," Ashraful Haque was quoted as saying by NDTV.

“It’s like Asif Nazrul probably told him forcefully that we will not go to India, and right in the next minute, Bulbul says, ‘We will not go to India.’ That was a mistake, I think and had Bulbul stood up on his grounds that ‘We will go to India, because the players want to go to India and we have signed a legal agreement with the organisers that we have to fulfil’," Ashraful said.

Haque suggested that the decision to boycott the tournament was a huge disappointment for Bangladesh cricket.

“Then maybe the government would have changed its mind, or it would have gone to a higher authority for the decision. I think Asif Nazrul decided on his own, and I don’t think he understands the CEO of cricket either. He was riding on a common anti-India feeling in Bangladesh and said it was based on that. Completely uncalled for and a big setback for Bangladesh cricket," he added.

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