'It Affects Us: Najmul Hossain Shanto Hands Reality Check To Bangladesh Cricket Board Amid Ongoing T20 World Cup Turmoil

Bangladesh's participation in the T20 World Cup is in hot water. The BCB has so far refused to travel to India for the T20 World Cup and has remained adamant in their stance. The problems emerged in the aftermath of Mustafizur Rahman's exit from KKR ahead of IPL 2026.

Najmul Hossain Shanto Hands Out Reality Check To Bangladesh Cricket

BCCI directed KKR to part ways with Mustafizur, and since then, things have escalated pretty quickly. The BCB has written two letters to ICC requesting to relocate their T20 World Cup matches from India to Sri Lanka. Bangladesh are scheduled to play three matches at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, followed by one game in Mumbai.

Najmul Hossain Shanto has opened up on the difficulties of acting on controversies as cricketers.

As quoted by ESPN Cricinfo, he said, “We haven't got a good result in any World Cup. We had a good opportunity last time [at the T20 World Cup in 2024], but we couldn't do it. But you will notice that before every World Cup, there's some incident that takes place.”

“As a player who has played one or two of these tournaments, I can tell you that it affects us. But we 'act' as if nothing affects us since we are professional cricketers. Even you know that it affects us. It is not easy. It is better if these things didn't happen. I think the players still try to keep all things aside to perform well.”

Tamim Iqbal Labeled As Indian Agent By BCB Director

Controversy further erupted after Former Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal appealed for a pause in the escalating tensions between the two nations over cricketing ties. He was the subject of sharp criticism from Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) director M Najmul Islam, who accused him of being an “Indian agent”.

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Tamim insisted that the BCB should look to resolve the issue at hand via dialogue, keeping the country's cricketing interests and future at the forefront as things stand.

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