Bangladesh is going through a turmoil as student protests against the government have led to extreme violence in the country. The protest was of extent, making Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina flee the country and allow the military takeover. Amidst all these developments, cricket has taken a hit as the impending women’s T20 World Cup 2024 is scheduled to be held in Bangladesh in October.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has requested Bangladesh Army Chief of Staff General Waker-Uz-Zaman to provide extensive security to conduct the marquee event feasibly. The International Cricket Council (ICC) had previously stated that the body is closely monitoring the developments in the country before taking further steps to conduct the tournament.
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“We are trying to host the tournament. To be honest there are not too many among us present in the country and on Thursday (August 8) we have sent a letter to the Army Chief regarding assurance about the security of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup as we have only two months in hand,” said Iftekhar Ahmed Mithu, BCB’s Umpire Committee chairman, as quoted by Cricbuzz.
“ICC communicated with us two days back, and we replied that we will come back to them shortly. Today after the [interim] government is formed, still we have to give them assurance of the security considering it cannot be given by the board or any anyone else apart from a law enforcement agency of the country, and so we sent the letter today and after getting written assurance from them [the Army] we will inform the ICC,” he added.
Protests cast shadow on global event
The global event was to take place in Bangladesh for 18 days with 10 teams vying for glory with 23 games scheduled in an intense winter. Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka and the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium in Sylhet were the two venues narrowed down by the organizers, with games to be played from October 3 to 20.