ICC is monitoring the situation in Bangladesh and has shortlisted the UAE, India and Sri Lanka as back-up venues in case it is forced to shift this year’s ICC Women’s T20 World Cup out of Bangladesh, as per cricket website ESPNCricinfo.
“The ICC is closely monitoring developments in coordination with the Bangladesh Cricket Board [BCB], their security agencies and our own independent security consultants,” an ICC statement said.
“Our priority is the safety and well-being of all participants.”
Bangladesh has been rocked by anti-government agitations over the last few weeks, leading to several deaths.
On Monday, prime minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and flew to India after weeks of anti-government protests which led to hundreds of deaths.
Army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman has assumed charge with a view to establishing an interim government.
The ten-team women’sT20 World Cup is scheduled to be held from October 3-20. After Monday’s developments, the governments of at least three countries that will be part of the event – Australia, England and India – have issued travel advisories to their citizens against visiting Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, the BCB also postponed the Bangladesh A team’s departure for Pakistan for a series with the Shaheens “by 48 hours”.
The men’s senior team were supposed to depart for Pakistan on August 17 for a two-Test series and ESPNCricinfo said that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has suggested the BCB to send the Bangladesh team in advance so that they can train in Rawalpindi before the series, which begins on August 21. The BCB is yet to respond.
The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup (formerly the ICC Women’s World Twenty20) is the biennial international championship for women’s Twenty20 International cricket.The event is organised by the sport’s governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), with the first edition having been held in England in 2009. For the first three tournaments, there were eight participants, but this number has been raised to ten from the 2014 edition onwards. In July 2022, the ICC announced that the Bangladesh would host the 2024 tournament and that England would host the 2026 tournament.The number of teams in at the 2026 tournament is also set to increase to twelve.
At each tournament, a set number of teams qualify automatically, with the remaining teams determined by the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier. Australia, having won the tournament six times, are the most successful team.
