Coming to India for the T20 World Cup is ‘unsafe’ for the Bangladeshi team, but sending their shooter to the country for the Asian Rifle and Pistol Shooting Championship in New Delhi, isn’t. That is the kind of hypocrisy that no one expected, and that too, so soon. For those of you wondering, what this is about — the Bangladeshi government has allowed its shooter, Robiul Islam, to come down to India for a competition, after refusing to play cricket around the same time.
BCB says no to T20 World Cup in India
That just shows, how cricket has become a political tool. It all started when Mustafizur Rahman was withdrawn from IPL 2026, who was bought by KKR for over 9 Cr. In turn, the BCB — Bangladesh Cricket Board termed India ‘unsafe’ for its players. While there were security assurances from the ICC, they did not budge on their demand of playing in Sri Lanka.
Eventually, they withdrew from the World Cup and Scotland was brought in, in their place. The government order (clearance) was issued by the Youth and Sports Ministry, for the shooting competition which will be held from Feb 2 to 14. As per a report in the Daily Sun, the government officials believe, that the shooting championship will not pose a significant risk.
Robiul Islam gets government clearance
Youth and Sports Secretary Md Mahbub-ul-Alam confirmed the same. “The Bangladesh team consists of just one athlete and one coach, making it a very small group. In addition, the organisers have assured us that there will be no security issues,” he said. “The event will be held indoors within a protected area, so we do not anticipate any security concerns. After considering all aspects, the government approved the shooting team’s travel.”
What this move also does is, put Pakistan/PCB in bit of a tight spot. It looks like an own-goal by BAN for sure, but it was the PCB, that vehemently supported the BCB in their decision to pull out. When that ploy did not work, PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi threatened to boycott the IND vs PAK match.
There has been no decision on it as yet, but various reports suggest that Pakistan could pull off the move, if they are comfortably placed in reaching the next round of the T20 World Cup. Rest, we would only find out, when the event unfold.
