India National Cricket Team To Visit Bangladesh For Bilaterals? BCB Speeds Up

Aminul Islam Bulbul and the Indian cricket team [Source: X]

Tensions between Bangladesh and India during the T20 World Cup 2026 have been at the center of major drama. Bangladesh did not participate in this edition of the World Cup because of a pre-tournament fiasco that almost led to a boycott of the India vs Pakistan match on February 15. 

However, Bangladesh's non-participation was swiftly addressed by the International Cricket Council, which replaced them with Scotland. For the unaware, the primary context behind Bangladesh’s ouster from the T20 World Cup 2026 were the Indian venues. 

The ICC-BCB and The Indian Venue Fiasco

As the India National Cricket Team and Sri Lanka are the co-hosts of the World Cup, Bangladesh refused to travel to the Indian subcontinent and opted to play only in Sri Lanka, which was rejected by the ICC. 

Nevertheless, these tensions ahead of the tournament led to several cracks in the cricketing ties between India and Bangladesh. Aminul Haque, the newly appointed State Minister for Youth and Sports, commented on this disappointing situation and said he looks forward to mending ties with the Board of Control for Cricket in India. 

For the unaware, Mustafizur Rahman, Bangladesh's pace veteran, was released from the Kolkata Knight Riders franchise ahead of the Indian Premier League 2026 because of anti-Muslim and anti-Islam sentiments that led to protests against his inclusion. 

This followed an incident in which a Hindu was mob-lynched in Bangladesh, and as a protest, Mustafizur Rahman was sent back to Bangladesh ahead of participating in IPL 2026. 

After Rahman’s exit, the Bangladesh Cricket Board raised concerns about traveling to Indian venues, citing religious protesters in India and possible threats to Bangladesh players who would be playing in the T20 World Cup. 

The BCB then made a formal appeal to the ICC to move all of their matches to Sri Lanka. However, the ICC denied the request and gave them the option to either play in India or be replaced by Scotland, after which the Bangladesh government chose the latter.

Bangladesh Look Forward To Mending Ties With India

After the major fiasco, which also saw Pakistan support Bangladesh's stand on shifting matches to Sri Lanka, and with the World Cup still ongoing amid the tension, the State Minister for Youth and Sports said on Tuesday that the government is looking forward to resolving issues with India while maintaining friendly relations with neighboring countries. 

Aminul Haque shared that he met the Deputy High Commissioner of India at the Parliament building, and after a friendly discussion, he said he believes the cricketing ties should be restored soon. Aminul later added that diplomatic complications led to Bangladesh not playing in the World Cup.

"After attending the oath-taking ceremony today, I met with the Deputy High Commissioner of India at the Parliament building. I discussed this matter (T20 World Cup issue) with him. He was very friendly, and I also spoke to him in a friendly manner. 

I told him that we want to resolve this issue quickly through discussions because we want to maintain friendly relations with all our neighboring countries. From sports to all other sectors, we want to build a sincere and cordial relationship," Aminul told reporters on Wednesday.

"You know that because of diplomatic complications, we could not play in the World Cup. If those issues had been discussed and settled earlier, our team might have participated" Aminul added.

When Did India and Bangladesh Last Play Against Each Other?

This development could soon see the India National Cricket Team and Bangladesh play a bilateral series after the England tour. Notably, Bangladesh and India last faced each other in a bilateral multi-format series in 2024-25, where India won both the Test and T20I series 2-0 and 3-0 respectively.

After that, India met Bangladesh in the Champions Trophy 2024-25 and the T20 Asia Cup 2025. Nevertheless, as Bangladesh is not participating in the T20 World Cup, India have currently advanced to the Super 8 stage and will look to finish their last group-stage match against the Netherlands on February 18 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.