New BCCI Diktat on Bangladesh Players? Will India tour BAN in September?

Just a day after the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) made it clear that they will be hosting the Indian cricket team for a white ball series later this year in September, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has come up with a big decision against the Bangladesh players, asking KKR to release their recent signing Mustafizur Rahman from their squad due to strained bilateral relations between the two countries.

 

Rahman had made history as the most expensive Bangladeshi player ever when Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) acquired him for Rs 9.20 crore at last month’s mini-auction.  The signing ignited controversy amid reports of violence against religious minorities in Bangladesh, with some questioning the pacer's involvement in IPL 2026 after which the BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia came up with the statement that franchise has been asked to release the player ahead of IPL 2026.

 

Will India tour Bangladesh?

 

The other question that arises with this statement is that with BCCI taking direct action against Bangladesh players, will the white-ball series scheduled to be played in September go ahead as planned or will it be cancelled after all. 

 

Earlier, the series was postponed with the reports citing a busy schedule for the Indian team as one of the reasons for the postponement. The other reason stated in reports was the political turmoil taking place in Bangladesh at the time which deemed it unsafe for the players to travel to the country as well.

 

Shah Rukh Khan criticized heavily over IPL signing

 

Actor Shah Rukh Khan has faced harsh criticism from Hindu religious leaders and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) officials after Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) signed Bangladeshi pacer Mustafizur Rahman in the IPL 2026 auction. The criticism comes amid Bangladesh's anti-India stance and reports of violence against Hindu minorities in the country.  Shah Rukh Khan is the co-owner of the Kolkata Knight Riders which is also co-owned by former Bollywood actress Juhi Chawla.  BJP leader Sangeet Som labeled Khan a "traitor" for acquiring Mustafizur Rahman for his franchise, accusing him of supporting anti-India elements by spending nine crores, especially when anti-India slogans are being raised in Bangladesh and the Prime Minister is being insulted.  Bangladesh's T20 World Cup campaign in question  With Bangladesh scheduled to play their upcoming T20 World Cup matches in India as well, it will be interesting to see whether their matches are relocated to the co-host nation Sri Lanka or not. They are scheduled to play their group stage matches at the Eden Gardens (Kolkata) and the Wankhede Stadium (Mumbai) in the World Cup this year.

 

Bangladesh T20 World Cup 2026 schedule
Match No.	Date	Time	Teams	Venue	Location
2	Feb 07, 2026 (Sat)	15:00:00	West Indies vs Bangladesh	Eden Gardens	Kolkata, India
7	Feb 09, 2026 (Mon)	11:00:00	Bangladesh vs Italy	Eden Gardens	Kolkata, India
23	Feb 14, 2026 (Sat)	15:00:00	England vs Bangladesh	Eden Gardens	Kolkata, India
33	Feb 17, 2026 (Tue)	19:00:00	Bangladesh vs Nepal	Wankhede Stadium	Mumbai, India