NEW DELHI: The feud between the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and the International Cricket Council (ICC) has taken a new turn after Bangladesh were knocked out of the Under-19 World Cup in Zimbabwe.
The BCB's game development coordinator Habibul Bashar launched a scathing attack on the ICC over the unfair scheduling of their matches, saying the board had to cover internal flight expenses from its own pocket to keep the players fresh.
The latest accusation comes after the BCB and ICC were at loggerheads, following the governing body's rejection of Bangladesh's request to move their T20 World Cup matches from India to Sri Lanka and replacing them with Scotland.
"More than the approach, I think our calculations were lacking [against England and India]. But this [travel schedule] is something I want to highlight, even if people think I'm making excuses," Habibul told The Daily Star.
'I am leaving': Bangladesh coach reacts after team withdraws from ICC T20 World Cup 2026
Bangladesh were originally set to play two warm-up matches in Masvingo before heading to Harare for the main tournament. However, Bashar revealed that the ICC altered their schedule, forcing the team to split their practice games across two venues, with a four-hour drive in between.
"To avoid the boys getting too tired before the India match, the BCB actually paid for an internal flight out of its own pocket because the bus journey was too long and direct flights were scarce," he added.
Bangladesh head coach Naveed Nawaz and several players reportedly voiced frustration over the demanding schedule. The team had to travel from Harare to Bulawayo - a grueling nine-hour bus journey during the monsoon season - just ahead of their opening group match.
To ease the strain for key fixtures against India and New Zealand, the BCB arranged and funded an internal flight.
But the travel woes didn't end there. The team had to take another bus back to Bulawayo for their game against the USA on January 23, before embarking on yet another road trip for their Super Six clash against England in Bulawayo on January 26.
"The schedule was very unfair to us. During the initial schedule, we were supposed to play two of our warm-up matches in Masvingo and travel to Bulawayo, which is a four-hour drive, for our opening two group-stage matches. Later, they [ICC] suddenly changed the schedule, and it meant we had to play two of our warm-up games at different venues, travelling back and forth," revealed Bashar.
"We notified them [of the travel burden] before the tournament started. We asked them to move our practice games to avoid the back-and-forth travel, but they didn't listen. Once the tournament starts, you can't really change these things."
