Statement of new Sports Minister of Bangladesh, wants to improve relations with India, tone changed after T20 World Cup controversy
Dhaka. Bangladesh’s new sports minister Aminul Haq is keen to mend relations with the BCCI and India, saying he wants to “resolve this issue quickly”, referring to Bangladesh’s non-participation in the ongoing men’s T20 World Cup.
“After taking oath today, I met the Deputy High Commissioner of India at the Parliament Building. I spoke with him on the T20 World Cup,” Aminul said after Bangladesh’s new cabinet was sworn in after the general elections. “It was a good conversation. I told him that we want to resolve this issue quickly through talks because we want to maintain friendly relations with all our neighboring countries.”
Scotland replaced Bangladesh in the T20 World Cup being played in India and Sri Lanka, as their previous government had decided not to send the team to India due to geopolitical tensions – they wanted to play in Sri Lanka instead. The sequence of events started when the Indian government asked Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to drop Mustafizur Rahman, the only Bangladeshi player from their squad in IPL 2026, and ended with the ICC pulling the team out of the mega tournament.
The good news for Bangladesh and the BCB is that the ICC announced on February 9 that it would not penalize Bangladesh for not agreeing to play its T20 World Cup matches in India. BCB was also given the right to host an out-of-turn ICC event ahead of the 2031 Men’s ODI World Cup, for which they are co-hosts with India.
“From sports to all other sectors, we want to build a true and good relationship (with India),” Aminul said. “You know that due to diplomatic issues, we could not play in the World Cup. If those issues had been discussed and resolved earlier, our team probably could have participated.” India is scheduled to tour Bangladesh in September this year, postponed from August 2025, to play a series of three ODIs and three T20 white-ball matches. However, that tour was announced before recent events.
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