Afridi slams ICC for excluding Bangladesh
The ICC has not accepted Bangladesh’s demand. The top cricket body has excluded Scotland from the 2026 T20 World Cup. They announced this decision in a press release on Saturday (January 24).
The Bangladesh Cricket Board has refused to go to India citing security reasons. Bangladesh wanted to shift their match to Sri Lanka. However, the ICC rejected that proposal. Following this decision, former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has strongly criticized the decision.
Afridi wrote on social media, “As a former international cricketer who has played for Bangladesh and ICC events, I am very disappointed with the ICC’s position today. They have accepted India’s security concerns in not going to Pakistan in 2025. But in the case of Bangladesh, they are not showing the same understanding.”
Last year, India refused to go to Pakistan to play the Champions Trophy. At that time, the ICC accepted India’s demand. All India’s matches were to be held in Dubai. Even though other teams play in Pakistan, to play against India, those teams have to go to Dubai instead of Pakistan.
In this context, Afridi further said, ‘The same principle has not been followed here either. Consistency and fairness are the mainstays of world cricket. Bangladeshi players and millions of fans deserve respect. There is no double standard. The ICC should build bridges, not start fires.’
Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Mohsin Naqvi also said the same thing. Yesterday in Lahore, he said, ‘Injustice has been done to Bangladesh. I said the same thing in the ICC Board meeting. There cannot be one rule for one country and the opposite rule for another country.’
The ICC said in their statement that in the case of India, no credible or verifiable security threat was found for the Bangladesh team. That is why the request to shift the match to Sri Lanka has been rejected.
The ICC also said that changing the schedule was not realistic as there was very little time left before the start of the tournament. Therefore, this decision had to be taken even though it was difficult. The T20 World Cup, jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka, will start from February 7.
