The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) wrote to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to enhance the bilateral engagements between the two teams. Relations between the two countries hit rock bottom earlier this year after Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman was released by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) due to a BCCI diktat. The political tensions between India and Bangladesh rose after multiple Hindus were killed in Bangladesh, and this led to social media outrage over KKR acquiring Rahman in the auction.
The sentiment eventually led the BCCI to order KKR to release Rahman from the squad. This then had a ripple effect as Bangladesh refused to travel to India for the T20 World Cup 2026, and eventually, the Bangla Tigers were shown the door from the tournament and replaced by Scotland in Group C.
However, as the dust continues to settle, the Bangladesh board has now written to the BCCI, exploring more cooperation in cricket between the two Asian countries. The Director (Cricket Operations) of the BCB, Nazmul Abedin Fahim, confirmed that the board indeed sent an email to the Indian board.
“We maintain regular communication with various countries’ cricket boards. As part of that regular communication, we recently reached out to the Board of Control for Cricket in India via a letter, through an email, to communicate with them”, Fahim told ANI.
The Bangladesh men’s team are slated to face India in three ODIs and as many T20Is later this year. However, as of now, it’s not known whether India would oblige the commitment and travel to Dhaka for the white-ball series.
“In the letter, we mentioned that the Indian national cricket team is scheduled to come to Bangladesh in September to play a series, and after that, our women’s team is supposed to go to India. We also included in the letter a request to explore any other possibilities for reciprocal cricket collaborations,” he added.
Easing of tensions between India and Bangladesh
After the general elections in Bangladesh on February 12, Bangladesh has sought to improve relations with India.
Earlier this week, IPL chairman Arun Dhumal finally broke his silence on Rahman being released by KKR, saying it was an “unfortunate” situation. However, he also added that the Indian government had no role to play in the matter.
“I would only say it was unfortunate. Beyond that, I do not have much knowledge,” Dhumal told the Financial Times.
I do not think the government has any interest or any role to play in running cricket day to day. The government is supportive of cricket at large. But, yes, sometimes events happen around us, and decisions follow. I am sure good sense will prevail and that this will not be the case going forward,” he added.
Speaking of India and Bangladesh, the two men’s teams are slated to play three ODIs and three T20Is from September 1 to September 12.
