T20 World Cup 2026: BCB president opts out of attending India-Pakistan clash in Colombo

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Aminul Islam has opted against travelling to Colombo to attend the India-Pakistan clash at the T20 World Cup on February 15.

The last-moment change comes after Aminul had only recently hinted that he was looking at the game as an opportunity to break the ice with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in the aftermath of the tripartite meeting involving BCB, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the International Cricket Council (ICC) representatives in Lahore to solve the ICC-PCB deadlock following Bangladesh’s removal from the T20 World Cup.

Aminul was a central figure in the negotiations at the Lahore meet, persuading Pakistan to change their stance of boycotting the February 15 clash against India in Colombo, which the PCB had said was an expression of solidarity with BCB following their unjust ouster from the tournament, as the ICC denied the request to move Bangladesh’s matches out of India.

The ICC had officially invited Aminul to attend the marquee fixture at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. However, Aminul changed his mind at the last moment due to Bangladesh’s non-involvement in the fixture.

“I spoke with Aminul Islam. Since Bangladesh isn’t in it, he said, ‘Why should I go there just to watch the match?’ So, he refused,” BCB umpires committee chairman Iftekhar Rahman told Cricbuzz on Saturday. “Maybe at first he said he would go but later realized if Bangladesh isn’t playing, what’s the point of going unnecessarily,” he said.

Earlier, he had confirmed that the ICC wanted its “major stakeholders” to remain present in Colombo for the marquee clash.

“The ICC has taken a decision. The major stakeholders of the ICC are these five Asian countries (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan) and for the India-Pakistan match on the 15th in the World Cup, they want representatives of all five Asian countries to be present at the ground together, watch the match together and talk to one another,” Aminul was quoted in leading Bangladeshi newspaper Prothom Alo.

“You can consider it as something like that (an ice breaker between us),” he had said.

 

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