Why are Bangladesh’s cricketers boycotting games before the T20 World Cup?

Why are Bangladesh’s cricketers boycotting games before the T20 World Cup? Top Bangladesh cricket official is sacked after players refused to turn up for a T20 league game amid a row with India. Cricketers in Bangladesh have begun their boycott of the game across all formats and competitions in response to a top Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) official’s scathing remarks weeks ahead of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. Two Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) matches were indefinitely postponed on Thursday after the teams failed to turn up at the venue in Dhaka, setting off a boycott a day after BCB director Nazmul Islam lashed out at the country’s top-tier cricketers. Recommended Stories list of 4 items list 1 of 4 India-Bangladesh tensions rock cricket, as sport turns diplomatic weapon list 2 of 4 ‘I didn’t set out to break records’: Pakistan’s first female MMA fighter list 3 of 4 Relocate our T20 World Cup matches outside India, BCB tells ICC again list 4 of 4 Australian Open 2026: All to know about the first tennis Grand Slam Islam was sacked by the BCB hours after the postponement of the first BPL match. The move comes amidst uncertainty over the venues for Bangladesh’s fixtures at the February 7-March 8 T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka. Here’s what we know about the trouble brewing in Bangladesh cricket: Why have Bangladeshi cricketers boycotted BPL matches? The players, represented by the Cricketers Welfare Association of Bangladesh (CWAB), were acting in response to an outburst by BCB official Islam, who suggested the players should return the “crores of taka” (10s of millions of Bangladeshi currency) that the board has spent on them over the years, during which the team has not won any international tournament. Which matches have been hit by the players’ boycott so far? The first match to be affected by the boycott was a BPL fixture between Chattogram Royals and Noakhali Express at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka. The match was scheduled to begin at 1pm local time (07:00 GMT), but players from neither team arrived at the stadium, forcing tournament officials to postpone it. The second match of the day, between the Rajshahi Warriors and Sylhet Titans and scheduled for a 6pm (12:00 GMT) start at the same venue, was also postponed. What are the players’ demands? The players were demanding Islam’s removal from the board. What did Nazmul Islam say about the cricketers? Islam, who headed the BCB’s finance committee, was responding to questions about the possibility of paying compensation to the players should they miss the upcoming T20 World Cup due to Bangladesh’s refusal to play its games in India. The official turned the query on its head and said “the question [of compensation] does not even arise” after the money spent on them by the board. “We are spending so much money on them, they are not being able to do anything in different places,” he told the media. “Have we got any international awards?...

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