Tamim Iqbal admits Bangladesh could have handled the T20 World Cup challenge better

Bangladesh Cricket Board president Tamim Iqbal admitted the country could have handled the T20 World Cup issue better, saying negotiations surrounding their exit from the tournament had reached a “point of no return” too soon.

Bangladesh withdraw from T20 World Cup 2026, citing security concerns after Mustafizur Rahman was released by Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of the Indian Premier League. The decision came amid heightened tensions between Bangladesh and India.

However, Tamim believes that Bangladesh should have approached the situation differently and negotiated more carefully.

“I feel like we could have negotiated the matter a lot better. Look, the Mustafizur thing was obviously something that the whole country was disappointed with. And I say today, I also said that day, it should never have happened. This was not right in any way, it should never have been done,” Tamima was quoted as saying by sports platform Not Out Noman.

“But we will play the World Cup. Every single person in Bangladesh celebrated like everyone else when we qualified for the World Cup for the first time. It may be the T20 World Cup every two years or every four years now, but it is the World Cup that Bangladesh will represent.”

“So I feel like we probably could have handled it better. We went to the point of no return right from the start.”

Tamim said there were few details of the meeting he could not divulge publicly, insisting it would surprise many people.

“I’m saying this, I’m in the ICC now, I’m a member of the ICC because of the BCB. There were many things said and done during those negotiations that when I publish it, you will be surprised,” he said.

“I won’t be able to do that because I need to keep that respect. You’ll be surprised by what was said, but let’s not get into that discussion.”

SPORT SHOULD KEEP OUT OF POLITICS

Tamim also argued that sports matters should not always be drawn into political disputes, especially when a solution is possible.

“If you go to the point of no return on day one, then this (solution) is not going to happen. And I feel that in some cases, sports should remain sports,” he said.

“Whatever happens, who goes to which country, which country the match should be played in, I’m not going to get into those details. I feel like in some cases we should treat sport as sport.”

Tamim pointed to Iran playing in the United States during an ongoing war as an example of sporting engagement continuing despite serious political tensions.

“Unfortunately, sometimes we don’t have to stay within this boundary. We often drag sports into other aspects as well,” he said.

Tamim reiterated his belief that Bangladesh should have played the T20 World Cup and acted with more restraint.

“Surely we should have played the World Cup. Surely we should have done the negotiations in a better way. And that’s it, I can’t say many things even though I know them,” he said.

THE INDIA SERIES IS STILL NOT OFF THE TABLE

Tamim’s comments come at a time when BCB and BCCI are also trying to find a new window for India’s proposed tour of Bangladesh.

India were scheduled to play three ODIs and three T20Is in August and Septemberbut the series will not take place in the previously discussed window.

Despite speculation that the tour could be canceled altogether due to the political situation between the two countries, Tamim said the two councils continue to communicate regularly and hope to find new dates.

“That it (Indian series) will not happen has not been decided yet,” Tamim said.

“Both boards are very honest that this thing is happening. Both BCCI and BCB and we are also looking at the windows of when what can be done. Roughly the date around which we are also thinking whether it can be done at this time or not.”

Tamim added that both councils have positive intentions and are continuing to work on their respective plans.

“If I had seen that the intention was negative, then I would not have even said this word to you today, we will see what happens, we hope. The intentions are very positive,” he said.

– The end

Issued by:

Saurabh Kumar

Published on:

31 Aug 2026 08:37 IST