'Hoping for a miracle from ICC, who doesn't want to play the World Cup?' – BCB President

Aminul Islam, the Bangladesh Cricket Board president, said on Wednesday that they can still take part in the upcoming ICC Twenty20 World Cup if the governing body changes its mind and relocates Bangladesh's games out of India.

The announcement came hours after the ICC rejected Bangladesh's plea to relocate their venues, with all but two members voting against the request. Even a last-minute expression of solidarity from the Pakistan Cricket Board did not change the ICC's position. The ICC board has issued a final ultimatum to Bangladesh.

The BCB has 24 hours to decide whether they will travel to India for the February 7-March 8 World Cup, failing which the ICC will replace them with another country. Scotland are tipped to replace Bangladesh in Group C should they fail to comply.

BCB will be required to go back to their government, which has not changed its stance on participating in the event in India. They will take a final call over the next few hours.

"I am hoping for a miracle from the ICC. Who doesn't want to play the World Cup?," Aminul said. "We can't really comment after the ICC's press release. The meeting went on for an hour and a half. We explained to the ICC board the reasons for our decision before the voting began. We didn't want to go into voting. We stepped back," he said.

"The Bangladesh players want to play the World Cup. The Bangladesh government wants Bangladesh to play the World Cup. But we don't think India is safe for our players," he said. "We asked them to shift the matches to Sri Lanka. We said that we can switch with Ireland or Zimbabwe. It would have been the easiest way. But Sri Lanka said that we don't want a new team in our group. After the vote, I told them that I want one last chance to tell my government. They said it's a valid point, and gave me 24 or 48 hours to get back to them.

"I don't want to put pressure on the government. We know that India is not secure for us. We remain in the stance that we want to play in Sri Lanka. I know the ICC denied us, but we will talk to the government one more time. I will inform the government's feedback to the ICC," he said. "A government doesn't only consider the players, but they consider all, when it takes a decision."

Another BCB official insisted that the ICC could have a change of heart, noting that they have exchanged at least 15-20 emails and had three calls with their counterpart to resolve the issue. Over the weekend, the BCB also held talks with ICC officials in Dhaka, but no agreement was reached.