Prices of flights and hotel bookings to Colombo, Sri Lanka, have soared as thousands of fans flock to the city to watch India play Pakistan on Sunday in cricket's Twenty20 World Cup.

Batting stars Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who have retired from Test and T20 international cricket, had their India central contracts downgraded on Monday.

Former England captain turned cricket pundit Nasser Hussain said he supported Bangladesh’s stance of not travelling to India for the upcoming T20 World Cup and praised Pakistan for standing by Bangladesh.

Bangladesh’s decision not to play its 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup matches in India has raised serious concerns about India’s bid to host the 2036 Olympic Games, according to a report from The Guardian.

Bangladesh Cricket Board yesterday reaffirmed its decision not to travel to India for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup, citing security concerns, during a video conference with the International Cricket Council.

On the question of whether Bangladesh would consider playing at an alternate venue in India, the BCB boss stressed that the decision ultimately rests with the government.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has broken its silence on Bangladesh’s request to relocate their T20 World Cup matches outside India, but stopped short of addressing the issue directly.

Former Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) general secretary and ex–Asian Cricket Council (ACC) CEO Syed Ashraful Haque has strongly criticised political interference in cricket, describing the sport as having been "hijacked by politicians" while commenting on Bangladesh’s request to relocate their T20 World Cup matches away from India.

Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman’s exclusion from the Indian Premier League (IPL) has sparked widespread discussion in recent days. The issue has also triggered a series of off-field developments, with the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) even holding talks with the International Cricket Council (ICC) over the possibility of relocating their upcoming ICC T20 World Cup matches from India.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on Wednesday dismissed an ESPNcricinfo report claiming that the International Cricket Council (ICC) had rejected Bangladesh’s request to shift its T20 World Cup matches out of India due to security concerns.

Off-field battles in cricket are nothing new, but this time, off-field politics has shaken the cricketing world, with Bangladesh firmly at the centre of attention.

Bangladesh pacer Tanzim Sakib has admitted that he may have to rethink the prospect of entering the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction next season following Kolkata Knight Riders’ decision to release Mustafizur Rahman upon instructions from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

The decision to ask IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders to release Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman was not the result of deliberations within the Indian cricket board, nor was the Indian Premier League’s governing council consulted on the matter, The Indian Express has reported.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) yesterday confirmed that it will not send the national team to India for the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, considering the safety and security of the Bangladesh contingent in India.

The decision was made in an emergency meeting held in the afternoon today.

The uproar over Mustafizur Rahman’s shock removal from the IPL by the BCCI on Saturday is far from over, with calls from Bangladesh to shift its matches from India to Sri Lanka for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2026, set to begin on February 7, only getting louder.

The development overshadowed a scheduled rest day in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) T20.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has expressed deep disappointment over Mustafizur Rahman’s removal from the Indian Premier League but believes there is no immediate option to seek a change of venue for the upcoming T20 World Cup.

How much will Bangladesh ace pacer Mustafizur Rahman earn after being removed from the Indian Premier League?

Indian politician and current Member of Parliament (MP) Shashi Tharoor called out the BCCI for ‘deplorably’ forcing Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman’s removal from the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) squad for IPL 2026, doubling down on his belief that politics should not be dragged into sports.