New Delhi: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi on Thursday reacted to Bangladesh’s decision not to play the T20 World Cup in India, despite the International Cricket Council (ICC) rejecting the country’s request to shift the matches.
Speaking to news agency ANI, the Sena MP said, “The ICC has also rejected Bangladesh’s demand to play the match outside. Out of all the committee members present on the board, only Pakistan has supported them; no one else has,” she said.
“It is clearly visible that Pakistan is using Bangladesh. There is continuous oppression of minority Hindus in Bangladesh; instead of responding to that, they are talking about cricket. Rather, we should have told the ICC that we neither want Pakistan’s team nor Bangladesh’s team, until these people stop their antics. At this time, whatever the ICC has said, Bangladesh will have to follow it,” she added.
Chaturvedi had earlier vehemently opposed India playing against Pakistan during the Asia Cup 2025.
For the unversed, Bangladesh has said that it will not play its T20 World Cup fixtures in India, claiming security concerns.
“We will continue to communicate with the ICC. We want to play the World Cup, but we won’t play in India. We will keep fighting. There were some shocking calls in the ICC Board meeting. The Mustafizur issue is not an isolated single issue. They (India) were the sole decision-makers in that issue,” BCB President Aminul Islam Bulbul told reporters.
“ICC has denied us our request to shift our matches away from India. We are not sure about the status of world cricket. Its popularity is going down. They have locked away 200 million people. Cricket is going to the Olympics, but if a country like us is not going there, it is ICC’s failure,” he added.
The T20 World Cup will kick off on February 7, with India and Sri Lanka set to co-host the tournament.
