There is political turmoil in Bangladesh cricket at the moment. After being out of the T20 World Cup, the team’s senior assistant coach Mohammad Salahuddin has fiercely attacked former sports advisor Asif Nazrul. He alleged that wrong decisions and U-turns shattered the dreams of the players.
’27 years of dream ended in one second’
Giving a sharp reaction to the decision of not playing in the T20 World Cup, Salahuddin said that the lifelong dream of the young players was broken in one stroke. He revealed that two players had even gone into a mental coma-like state. He said, ‘When a boy comes to play the World Cup, he brings with him the dream of his 27 years. You break that dream in a second. If this is a decision in the national interest then the players will make sacrifices, but we will have to talk about personal loss.
‘Lied openly’
The matter became more heated when contradictions came to light in the statements of Asif Nazrul. Earlier he had said that the decision of not playing matches in India is the government’s. He later claimed that the decision was taken in collaboration with the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and the players to preserve national dignity. On this Salahuddin made a sharp attack. He said, ‘He lied openly. I am a teacher myself, teachers generally lie less. We cannot accept that a person from a top institute like Dhaka University should make such statements.
Why was Bangladesh out of T20 World Cup?
The Bangladesh controversy started with Mustafizur Rahman.
As soon as KKR bought Mustafizur in the auction, some people on social media started targeting KKR, especially franchise owner Shahrukh Khan.
As the matter escalated, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had to come forward.
On January 3, 2026, BCCI directed KKR to drop Mustafizur from the team, after which the franchise officially released Mustafizur.
Angered by this action, Bangladesh cited security concerns regarding playing in India.
Bangladesh Cricket Board requested ICC to shift their T20 World Cup 2026 matches from India to Sri Lanka.
According to the initial schedule, Bangladesh was to play three matches in Kolkata and one in Mumbai in the group stage.
However, the ICC rejected this demand and said that there is no threat to anyone in India.
Also, ICC first gave Bangladesh an ultimatum till January 21 and then for another 24 hours on January 21.
However, Bangladesh stuck to its decision, after which the ICC dropped them from the tournament and included Scotland in its place.