Mustafizur Rahman joins PSL, ICC-BCB meeting delayed

A planned online meeting between the ICC and the Bangladesh Cricket Board to discuss the shifting of the country's T20 World Cup games from India to Sri Lanka, could not take place on Tuesday.

The BCCI recently asked IPL side Kolkata Knight Riders to release Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman from its squad due to "developments all around" in a vague reference to attacks on Hindus in the neighbouring country.

BCB then said on Monday that it does not feel secure in sending the national team to India for next month's T20 World Cup due to the deteriorating diplomatic relations.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), through its official PSL handle on 'X', announced that Mustafizur will be playing the next edition of the Pakistan Super League even though the players' auction for it is yet to be done.

According to Bangladesh Cricket Board sources, their president Aminul Islam Bulbul wants a written reply to an e-mail BCB has sent to ICC on their security apprehensions after BCCI decided to oust Mustafizur by instructing KKR to cancel its Rs 9.2 crore deal with the pacer.

BCB, in a retaliatory move, then wrote to ICC requesting for shifting of its league games in India to Sri Lanka. Bangladesh are supposed to play three games in Kolkata, including against West Indies and England, while the game against Nepal is scheduled in Mumbai.

The ICC's core team is working on multiple options including shifting the games to Sri Lanka but it involves a lot of logistical rejigging with just a month left for the event to start. It involves change of dates, and ticketing and broadcasting issues among others.

It remains to be seen whether ICC accedes to BCB's demands. Another option is to ask the BCB recce team to send its representatives to India to assess the security situation.

The third and last option is to remove Bangladesh from the tournament if they don't agree to play at the existing venues.