Bangladesh now demands group change in T20 World Cup:Requests ICC to place it in Group B; all league matches from group to be played in Sri Lanka

Amid the ongoing T20 World Cup row, Bangladesh has now demanded to change its group. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has told the ICC that it should be included in Group B instead of Group C. The board argues that if this happens, Bangladesh will have to play all its matches in Sri Lanka, which will reduce travel and security-related issues. This proposal was put forward during a meeting with ICC officials in Dhaka on Saturday, 17 January. The BCB believes that including their team in Group B instead of Ireland would not require many changes to the tournament’s organisation and would allow Bangladesh’s matches to be hosted in a single country. According to the current schedule, Ireland is to play its Group B matches against Sri Lanka, Australia, and Oman in Colombo, while their last match will be against Zimbabwe in Kandy. On the other hand, Bangladesh is scheduled to play three matches in its current Group C against West Indies, Italy, and England in Kolkata, while the last group match is set against Nepal in Mumbai. BCB says – ‘Our matches should be held in Sri Lanka’ On Saturday evening, BCB also issued an official statement. The statement said that the board has reiterated its demand to the ICC to hold Bangladesh’s matches in Sri Lanka. Along with this, the concerns raised by the Bangladesh government regarding the security of the team, Bangladeshi fans, media and others have also been presented to the ICC. Controversy over Mustafizur Rahman’s omission from IPL Due to the killing of Hindus in Bangladesh, the BCCI has not allowed Mustafizur Rahman to play in the IPL. He was dropped from the team by KKR on January 3 at the behest of BCCI. Enraged by this, the Bangladesh government banned the broadcast of IPL matches in its country. After this, citing the safety of the players, it also demanded a change of venue for the T-20 World Cup, which is to be held from 7 February. Bangladesh’s first match on 7 February Bangladesh has been placed in Group C in the T20 World Cup. The team is scheduled to face the West Indies on 7 February, Italy on 9 February, and England on 14 February. All three matches are to be played at Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata. The team’s last group stage match is against Nepal in Mumbai on February 17. KKR bought Mustafizur for ₹9.2 crore, then controversy over banning him from IPL On December 16, in the IPL mini-auction, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) bought Bangladeshi bowler Mustafizur Rahman for ₹9.20 crore. After this, Mustafizur faced opposition in India due to the killing of Hindus in Bangladesh. So far, 7 Hindus have been murdered there. Later, BCCI did not allow Mustafizur to play in the IPL, and on 3 January, KKR released him.