Bangladesh tells journalists, 'Travel to India at your own risk' for T20 World Cup 2026

Bangladesh journalists allowed to travel to India [Source: @sumir_pathak/x]

The Bangladesh government will not be imposing any restrictions to its journalists in travelling to India to cover the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup next month. Bangladesh’s Youth and Sports Ministry Secretary Mahbub Ul Alam confirmed the same after the ICC re-issued passes to several Bangladeshi journalists.

Earlier this week, Bangladesh was expelled by the ICC from the 2026 T20 World Cup after the BCB and the Bangladesh government refused to send its team to India for the showpiece event.

Bangladesh government says journalists to travel to India on their own decision

On January 24 earlier this month, the ICC excluded Bangladesh from the 2026 T20 World Cup as the apex body refused to entertain BCB’s unreasonable demand of shifting the team’s matches from India to Sri Lanka citing “security concerns.”

After Bangladesh’s exclusion from the tournament, the ICC cancelled the accreditations of around 100 Bangladeshi journalists who had initially applied to cover the 2026 T20 World Cup. The apex body has now restarted the entire process and is reissuing passes to several journalists in the country.

While there were reports of Bangladesh journalists still facing possible restrictions from the nation’s interim government, Youth and Sports Ministry Secretary Mahbub Ul Alam has now confirmed that the journalists are free to travel to India.

However, with security concern being a major factor behind Bangladesh’s exclusion from the 2026 ICC T20 World Cup, Alam added that the decision to travel will entirely rest with the journalists themselves. While speaking with the reporters, he said, “If the ICC has granted accreditation, the decision is yours. If you are satisfied with the security arrangements, you are free to go.”

Bangladesh’s uneven stance on India travel exposes government hypocrisy

Earlier this month, the BCB urged the ICC to relocate Bangladesh matches from India to Sri Lanka for the 2026 T20 World Cup citing “security concerns”. The BCB suddenly felt a security threat only after senior fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman was expelled by the KKR franchise from its IPL 2026 squad at the instructions of the BCCI.

The BCCI itself was forced to make the radical call in light of the rise in anti-India sentiments and the attacks on religious minorities in Bangladesh.

After withdrawing from the 2026 T20 World Cup as opposed to travelling to India despite getting an ICC ultimatum, the Bangladesh government recently allowed the nation’s shooting team to visit India for the Asian Rifle and Pistol Championship.

This selective approach has drawn questions over the consistency of Bangladesh’s security narrative. With Bangladesh also allowing its journalists to travel to India for covering the showpiece event, the government’s position has only added to the confusion.

Pakistan announces World Cup despite offering support to Bangladesh

Amidst Bangladesh’s repeated calls of boycotting India for the T20 World Cup 2026, the BCB received much support from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Apart from offering alternate T20 World Cup venue options to Bangladesh for the tournament, several reports even indicated that Pakistan team might also pull out of the 2026 T20 World Cup if Bangladesh’s demands were not met.

However, the PCB announced Pakistan’s 15-player squad for the 2026 T20 World Cup just a day after Bangladesh team was excluded from the tournament’s roaster.