The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is making progress in luring the necessary authorities of the provisional government into talks in an attempt to secure the right to host the upcoming ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, which is slated for October of this year.
For the first time, Bangladesh will serve as the sole host of the Women’s T20 World Cup’s ninth edition. The main event is slated to begin on October 3 and end on October 20, when the summit confrontation will occur. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina‘s resignation and her departure from Bangladesh earlier this week have shocked the nation with political unrest.
A new temporary government was sworn in on Thursday, following the collapse of the Awami League government last Monday. On the same day, the BCB wrote to General Waker-Uz-Zaman, the Chief of Staff of the Bangladesh Army, requesting security assurances for the competition. Amidst the turmoil, the Asian nation’s prospects of organising a keenly awaited international competition such as the Women’s T20 World Cup remain precarious.
According to recent sources, it’s understood that the International Cricket Council (ICC) is trying to ascertain whether it would be feasible to hold the Twenty20 World Cup in Bangladesh as soon as possible. This is because it requires time to evaluate potential other venues for the competition.
“Although we had spoken with the Army, the [interim] government had already taken shape at that point. Nizamuddin Chowdhury, the chief executive officer of BCB, told The Daily Star that “since it has been formed, they will place priority on it as required.”
Our understanding of the matter will improve the sooner we receive a response from them after we have spoken with them. We had spoken with them quite late on Thursday, so they didn’t have much time to process anything,” he continued.
Many board members are missing work, which makes it difficult for BCB to carry out its regular activities. The BCB CEO claimed that the board is still optimistic about hosting the competition, nevertheless.
In the meantime, Bangladesh’s position is being evaluated by the ICC as well. Most likely, the international agency is doing a separate evaluation. According to an ICC representative, once they reach a decision, they will announce it.
Also Read: Writing to the Army Chief, BCB requests security assurances for the World Cup
“After receiving a letter from ICC, we spoke with our Army chief. Tomorrow [today], we shall re-ask. The sports ministry, the Air Force, the Navy, and other pertinent parties were also addressed in the letter we had prepared. Thus, we shall witness “Yesterday, Iftekhar Ahmed Mithu, chairman of the BCB umpires committee, remarked.