‘Why were India allowed?’: Former Pakistan coach blasts ICC after Bangladesh World Cup exit | Cricket News
Former Australia cricketer Jason Gillespie emerged as one of the most vocal critic of the ICC after Bangladesh were removed from the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup, questioning what he described as a glaring lack of consistency in how the world body applies its own standards. Gillespie, who has previously worked as head coach of Pakistan, took to X to draw a direct comparison with the 2025 Champions Trophy, when India were allowed to play their matches at a neutral venue after citing security concerns about travelling to Pakistan.
“Has there been an explanation from the ICC why Bangladesh could not play their games outside of India?” Gillespie wrote. “From memory, India refused to play Champions Trophy matches in Pakistan and were allowed to play those games outside the country. Can someone make this make sense?”
Jason Gillespie post
The former fast bowler later deleted the post. Bangladesh were officially replaced by Scotland after a three-week impasse with the ICC. The Bangladesh Cricket Board had refused to send its team to India for the World Cup, repeatedly flagging security concerns and pushing for their matches to be shifted to Sri Lanka. The ICC, however, stood firm, citing multiple independent security assessments which concluded there was “no credible or verifiable security threat” to the Bangladesh team in India. The standoff intensified after a January 21 ICC board meeting, where all but two members rejected Bangladesh’s request to relocate matches and issued the BCB a 24-hour ultimatum to reconsider. Bangladesh did not back down, instead challenging the ICC’s assessment and claiming the threat level was higher than reported. That position was viewed internally as difficult to justify, especially given Bangladesh’s tour of Pakistan for the Champions Trophy the previous year under a higher threat perception. In its official statement, the ICC described Bangladesh’s removal as a “difficult decision”, stressing that it was not feasible to amend the schedule so close to the tournament. “Over a period of more than three weeks, the ICC engaged with the BCB through multiple rounds of dialogue,” the statement said, adding that detailed security and operational plans had been shared at several stages.
