Mumbai: Any chance of the International Cricket Council (ICC) accepting Bangladesh’s request to shift its T20 World Cup matches out of India to co-host Sri Lanka seemed to diminish on Monday. It is understood that the global cricket body’s independent risk assessments do not identify any specific or direct threat to the Bangladesh squad or team officials if they played in India.

The overall security risk for the tournament in India has been assessed as low to moderate, consistent with the profile of many major global sporting events. ICC has shared this security assessment — carried out by internationally recognised security experts — with Bangladesh.

Based on this, the risk associated with Bangladesh’s scheduled fixtures in Kolkata and Mumbai is assessed as low, with no indication of risks that cannot be effectively managed through security planning that is put in place. Bangladesh are scheduled to play three of their group matches in Kolkata and the final one in Mumbai. The World Cup begins on February 7.

The details of the security assessment came to light after Bangladesh’s sports advisor Asif Nazrul claimed earlier on Monday that the ICC security assessment report had flagged three things that will raise the security threat for the Bangladesh team in India.

“One is if Mustafizur (Rahman) is included in the Bangladesh team. Two, if the supporters of the Bangladesh team walk around wearing the national jersey of Bangladesh. And the third is that the closer the (Bangladesh general) election comes, the more the security threat for the Bangladesh team will increase,” Bangladesh newspaper Daily Star quoted Nazrul as telling reporters at a media conference at its Football House in Dhaka.

Bangladesh sent its request for the shifting of matches to ICC after Kolkaka Knight Riders, on the Indian cricket board’s directive, removed Mustafizur from its roster for the 2026 Indian Premier League, having acquired the fast bowler for Rs.9.2 crore in the player auction.

Nazrul said: “So, this statement of the ICC security team has proven beyond doubt that there is no situation for the Bangladesh cricket team to play the T20 World Cup in India. If the ICC expects us to make a cricket team without our best bowler, our supporters not being able to wear the Bangladesh jersey, and that we will postpone the Bangladesh elections to play cricket, there cannot be a more absurd, unrealistic, and unreasonable expectation than this.”

“We believe that the prevailing communal situation in India and the anti-Bangladesh atmosphere, especially the continuous anti-Bangladesh campaign that has been going on for the last 16 months, have made it impossible for Bangladesh to play cricket in India,” he said.

ICC’s security assessment sent to the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), it is understood, is not a statement of fact or representing conditions set by ICC regarding team selection, supporter behaviour, or domestic political processes.

“The ICC communication cited by the sports adviser today was an inter-departmental note on threat assessments ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup in India, not a response to Bangladesh’s request to relocate the matches outside India,” Azad Majumder, deputy press secretary of Bangladesh chief advisor, Muhammad Yunus, posted on Facebook.

Later, BCB said in a statement: “The correspondence cited today by the Advisor for the Ministry of Youth & Sports was in reference to an internal communication between the BCB and the ICC’s Security Department related to threat assessments for the Bangladesh team ahead of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. This does not constitute a formal response from the ICC to the BCB’s request for the relocation of Bangladesh’s matches outside India.

“The BCB reiterates that it has formally raised concerns regarding venue arrangements and has requested relocation of Bangladesh’s matches outside India in the interest of the team’s security. The Board confirms that it is still awaiting an official response from the ICC on this matter,” the statement added.

The row erupted after Mustafizur’s release by KKR, amid deteriorating relations between the countries. The BCCI did not specify a reason for its directive. Since then, Nazrul has been at the forefront of demands to move Bangladesh’s games out of India.

The BCB is still awaiting ICC’s response to its second letter sent on January 7 requesting the shifting of matches out of India.

HT understands that for the moment, the ICC’s position on the matter is that the schedule has been finalised and made public and that all participating teams are expected to meet their obligations under the terms of participation of ICC events.