ICC on a last-ditch confidence building mission to Dhaka

Two International Cricket Council (ICC) officials are set to travel to Dhaka in an effort to break the impasse over Bangladesh's participation in the Twenty20 World Cup. The senior ICC representatives will hold discussions with the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on the issue that has remained unresolved since Bangladesh demanded relocation of their matches out of India for the February 7-March 8 tournament.

The ICC visit is a last-ditch effort to persuade the BCB and a confidence-building initiative to ensure Bangladesh does not feel isolated by the ICC and the wider cricket community.

This follows a video call on Wednesday where BCB president Aminul Islam expressed his displeasure, virtually derailing talks. The ICC has reached out again to find common ground. The discussions may also involve representatives of the Muhammad Yunus government.

At the center are two issues: the perceived security threat to Bangladesh players in India and the Mustafizur Rahman controversy. The ICC's security assessment rates the threat level in India as moderate to low. In contrast, the perceived security risk within Bangladesh itself is assessed as moderate to high.

The ICC emissaries will seek to impress that Bangladesh is important to the global cricket ecosystem, but the interests of the other 19 participants are equally important. The ICC has a responsibility to accommodate requests from all other competing nations.

Islam is focused on a line in the security report suggesting a threat in a hypothetical scenario of communal violence. He also pointed to a perceived threat to Mustafizur Rahman in a similar imaginary scenario. Comments by leaders of the BJP and Shiv Sena were raised. Any increase in threat perception would be met with enhanced security by the ICC and BCCI.

There are also issues of precedent and schedule sanctity. The ICC and BCCI are wary that changing venues would set a dangerous precedent. Notably, the BCB remained silent for nearly three weeks after the schedule was announced on November 25. It is now too late for alterations.

A BCB member cited Mustafizur's exclusion from the IPL on security grounds and argued the ICC security report was based on hypothetical scenarios. The BCB claims its own security report mentions a threat to its players.

The ICC countered that such conjecture cannot be grounds for withdrawal, stating a rally in Paris does not make France unsafe for an event. The BCB has not shared its security report with the BCCI and ICC.

During the video call, the ICC was represented by its chief of legal, chief of security, and CEO. Islam was with vice-presidents Md Shakawath Hossain and Faruque Ahmed, director Nazmul Abedeen, and CEO Nizam Uddin Chowdhury.

BCB director Iftekhar Rahman confirmed ICC representatives are scheduled to arrive on Saturday. "We are looking forward to sitting down with them and hopefully we can resolve the issue," he said. The delegation is expected late Saturday, with the meeting likely at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka.

Bangladesh are scheduled to play three group stage fixtures in Kolkata on February 7, 9, and 14 against West Indies, Italy, and England before travelling to Mumbai for their final clash against Nepal.