Published: Feb 21, 2026, 03:41 PM (IST)
Edited: Feb 21, 2026, 03:41 PM (IST)
Bangladesh assistant coach Mohammad Salahuddin has hit out hard at former sports advisor Asif Nazrul over the country’s controversial decision to skip the T20 World Cup 2026 matches in India.
The issue started when Bangladesh refused to travel to India for the group stage due to “security concerns”. The team asked the ICC to shift their games to co-host Sri Lanka, but the ICC said no and gave Bangladesh a 24-hour deadline to confirm participation. When Bangladesh stuck to their stand, the ICC replaced them with Scotland in the tournament.
At first, Asif Nazrul – who was sports advisor under the interim government – clearly said it was the government’s decision not to go to India. But just before leaving his post, he changed his story and claimed it was the players and the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) who decided not to travel.
Salahuddin did not hold back and accused Nazrul of lying.
“He told such blatant lies,” the assistant coach said.
“I am a teacher myself, and teachers generally lie a bit less. That he would say such lies so openly – I honestly can’t even imagine it. How will I even show my face in front of the boys? He took such a U-turn.
“He is a teacher and a teacher at Dhaka University. A person from the highest educational institution of my country saying such lies – we can’t accept this. How can we accept this? He said one thing earlier and later took a U-turn.“
“Look, when a boy goes to play in a World Cup, he carries his dream – his 27-year-old dream with him. You destroy that dream in one second,” said Salahuddin.
“Fine, if it’s a country’s decision taken for national reasons, they will sacrifice for the country. But if you talk about loss, I will talk only about personal loss. Personally, you completely ended a boy’s dream. I know that two of my players went into coma mentally for five days, completely lost. The fact that we were able to bring them back onto the field in this tournament is itself a big thing,” he added.
Salahuddin made it clear that if it was truly a national security call by the government, the players would have accepted it. But shifting the blame to the players and BCB hurt them deeply.
The whole episode has left a lot of anger inside the Bangladesh camp, especially after Mustafizur Rahman’s IPL exit and the team’s removal from the World Cup. Salahuddin feels the players paid the biggest price for a decision that was not really theirs.
For all latest updates of T20 World Cup 2026 you can visit: https://www.cricketcountry.com/icc-mens-t20-world-cup-2026/
