Bangladesh’s refusal to play their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup matches in India was reaffirmed on Thursday following a meeting between the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), members of the national World Cup squad and Youth and Sports Adviser Asif Nazrul, as uncertainty continues over the team’s participation in the tournament.

The meeting took place at a city hotel in Dhaka, where government representatives briefed the cricketers on the reasons behind Bangladesh’s decision not to travel to India and discussed the possible way forward.

Addressing the media afterwards, Asif Nazrul made it clear that the stance had been taken at the government level. “It is our government that has decided not to go to India,” he said, adding that Bangladesh remained hopeful the ICC would allow the team to play its matches in Sri Lanka instead.

Bangladesh has already informed the International Cricket Council that it will not travel to India, citing security concerns following an incident involving pacer Mustafizur Rahman, who was dropped from the Indian Premier League after alleged threats.

However, after an ICC board meeting earlier on Wednesday, the global body reiterated that Bangladesh would have to play its matches in India and ruled out any venue change.

The ICC also stated that it did not see any security threat in India and warned that Bangladesh could be replaced if it continued to refuse participation.

BCB president Aminul Islam said the board would formally return to the ICC with a proposal to play in Sri Lanka under a hybrid arrangement. He confirmed that the ICC had given the BCB a 24-hour window to reconsider its position but questioned whether such an ultimatum was appropriate from a global governing body.

Aminul warned that excluding Bangladesh would mean the ICC missing out on nearly 200 million viewers, calling it a significant loss for the tournament.

He also rejected the ICC’s description of Sri Lanka as a co-host, insisting that the proposal was for a hybrid model, not co-hosting. Aminul added that some of the discussions at the ICC meeting were “shocking.”

Despite two rounds of talks with the ICC, Bangladesh has maintained its position. With the ICC board largely backing enforcement of participation in India, a final decision on Bangladesh’s World Cup involvement is expected later today.