DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh has banned broadcasts of the Indian Premier League after fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman was withdrawn from cricket’s biggest T20 league on the instructions of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
Bangladesh’s ministry of information and broadcasting said in a statement on Monday that the decision was taken “in public interest” after the BCCI gave no reason for the exclusion of Mustafizur, a move it said “caused distress among the people of Bangladesh.”
It is for the first time that IPL broadcasts have been banned in Bangladesh since the league started in 2008.
Kolkata Knight Riders, which bought Mustafizur in the IPL auction, released the left-arm fast bowler on Saturday on the instructions of the BCCI.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board said in a statement on Sunday that it has decided not to send its cricket team to India for the upcoming T20 World Cup “following a thorough assessment of the prevailing situation and the growing concerns regarding the safety and security of the Bangladesh contingent in India.”
The BCB said it also considered advice from its government before reaching out to the ICC “as the event authority to consider relocating all of Bangladesh’s matches to a venue outside India.”
The World Cup will be jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka from Feb. 7-March 8. Bangladesh is due to play three group games in Kolkata and one in Mumbai.
Pakistan is already scheduled to play all its group games and beyond if it advances in the tournament, in Sri Lanka due political tensions with India that brought both countries to the brink of war last year.
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