NEW DELHI: The Bangladesh government has approved its shooters to travel to India for next month’s Asian Rifle and Pistol Championships, just days after refusing to send its national cricket team to participate in the upcoming T20 World Cup due to security concerns.

While the T20 World Cup will be held across India and Sri Lanka from February 7 to March 8, the shooting event is scheduled at the Dr Karni Singh Range here from February 2 to 14. The championship will see participation from 17 countries, with over 300 shooters expected to compete. Bangladesh will field two rifle shooters across three events.

NRAI confirms Bangladesh participation

There had been speculation that Bangladesh might also withdraw its shooting team citing “security concerns” after pulling out of the cricket tournament. However, the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) assured PTI on Wednesday that the Bangladeshi players are set to compete.

“So far there is no news that the Bangladesh team is not coming. Their team is coming, no doubt about it,” said NRAI secretary Rajiv Bhatia.

“We at NRAI are in regular touch with them (Bangladesh federation officials). The Ministry of External Affairs has given its clearance and we have forwarded it to the (Indian) embassy for visa process,” he added.

Shooters set to compete

Bangladesh will be represented by 21-year-old women’s rifle shooter Arefin Shaira and 26-year-old Olympian Md Robiul Islam. The two 10m air rifle specialists will compete in individual events before pairing up for the mixed team competition.

According to a report in Dhaka’s Daily Sun on Wednesday, the Bangladesh government officially cleared the team’s tour.

“The Youth and Sports Ministry issued the official government order (GO) on Wednesday, clearing the team to compete in the championship scheduled to take place from February 2 to 14. The decision comes despite Bangladesh cancelling the national cricket team’s tour of India for the T20 World Cup earlier due to security concerns,” the report said.

The government believes the shooting championship poses minimal security risks since it will be held indoors at the secured Karni Singh Range.

The uncertainty had arisen after the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) refused to let its team travel to India for the World Cup, citing security concerns following Mustafizur Rahman’s ouster from the IPL. The ICC confirmed that Scotland has replaced Bangladesh, noting that the request to shift matches to Sri Lanka could not be accommodated so close to the tournament.

The ICC also maintained that there was no verifiable security threat to the Bangladesh cricket team, officials, or supporters in India, and that changing the schedule was not warranted.

(With PTI Inputs)