Supporters at the India vs Bangladesh CWC15 quarter final at the MCG, Australia. Image via Flickr by Tourism Victoria. CC BY 2.0.
The 2026 T20 Cricket World Cup, the biennial event organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC), is meant to celebrate cricket’s global reach; it has instead exposed the fault lines where sport, security, and statecraft collide with unwanted consequences.
Bangladesh has refused to participate in matches scheduled on Indian soil due to security concerns and political tensions. However, the unfolding cricket crisis represents far more than a diplomatic standoff or a security dispute.
The genesis of Bangladesh’s security concerns can’t be properly understood without examining the Mustafizur Rahman paradox that has stumped the cricketing world.
When the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) instructed the Kolkata Knight Riders to release the Bangladeshi pacer from their IPL 2026 squad due to security concerns, they inadvertently created a logical conundrum that Bangladeshi officials quickly seized upon.
Read more by clicking the original link of the article.
Originally published at Global Voices on January 19, 2026.
