The International Cricket Council’s (ICC) internal security team is keeping an eye on the chaos in Bangladesh as the country is scheduled to host the Women’s T20 World Cup in October. As per the pre-decided schedule, Bangladesh is to host the Women’s T20 World Cup from October 3 to 20.
Due to the violence spread in Bangladesh, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had to resign and flee the country. Army Chief General Waqar-uz-Zama said on Monday in Dhaka amid massive protests against the Hasina government that an interim government will take power in Bangladesh. More than 100 people have lost their lives in the last two days in the violence spread in the country.
The ICC is currently adopting a wait and watch policy on this issue. An ICC board member said, ‘The ICC has an independent security monitoring system in all its member countries. The situation is being closely monitored, but there are seven weeks left for the tournament to begin. In such a situation, it would be premature to comment on whether the tournament will be shifted from Bangladesh or not.’
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The ICC source said there was a similar situation of unrest in Sri Lanka in March 2022 when protesters stormed the official residence of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, citing corruption and inflation. After this incident, the Australian cricket team traveled there for a bilateral series in June. The World Cup in Bangladesh is scheduled to be held in Dhaka and Sylhet.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has strictly advised Indian citizens not to travel to Bangladesh until further notice. The BCCI always follows the government’s advice in such situations.
So T20 World Cup can be held in Sri Lanka
The ICC has contingency plans for unavoidable situations and in this case, Sri Lanka could be an option. Sri Lanka hosted the 2012 men’s T20 World Cup there between September and October. It will be interesting to see if the SENA countries (South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia) send their women’s teams to a country where the security situation may remain fragile.
The ICC has responded to Bangladesh and their right to host the Women’s T20 World Cup in October. An ICC spokesperson said- ICC is closely monitoring developments in coordination with the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), their security agencies and our own independent security advisors. Our priority is the safety and well-being of all participants.
Why is there a controversy?
There are protests in Bangladesh demanding the abolition of the controversial reservation system. Under this, a provision was made to give 30 percent reservation in government jobs to the relatives of the fighters who took part in the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)