The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) vice-president, Rajeev Shukla, has shamed the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, Mohsin Naqvi, by reminding everyone of Pakistan’s brutality towards Bangladesh in past.
Rajeev Shukla stated that Pakistan is interfering in the ICC-Bangladesh-BCCI matter without any reason ahead of the Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, and they played a major hand in the Bangla Tigers’ axing from the marquee event.
Bangladesh booted out of the ICC T20 World Cup 2026
The Bangla Tigers were all set to play the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, which is set to be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.
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However, now they will no longer be seen in the tournament as Scotland have replaced them in Group C after the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) refused to participate in the ICC Men’s T20 World 2026 as per the published match schedule. Scotland will be joining England, Italy, Nepal and the West Indies in the group.
The reason BCB gave behind not visiting India was a security threat for their players, and when ICC did their independent assessments, they found out no such issues and urged Bangladesh to visit India by guaranteeing full security.
Despite that, Bangladesh said no to ICC, and during the high-profile meeting between the officials and all cricket boards, it was decided that Bangladesh would be replaced by Scotland.
However, the only nation that has continuously backed Bangladesh has been Pakistan. Despite having nothing to do with them, Pakistan have threatened to boycott the T20 World Cup as a protest against the ICC.
Everyone knows the brutality done by Pakistan on the Bangladeshis – BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla
When Rajeev Shukla was asked about Pakistan needlessly intervening in the ICC-Bangladesh-BCCI T20 World Cup situation, he didn’t mince his words. Rajeev Shukla stated that Pakistan are provoking Bangladesh, misleading them and cited Pakistan’s 1971 genocide and rape horrors to hit back at Mohsin Naqvi.
“Pakistan is intervening in the matter without any reason and provoking Bangladesh… Everyone knows the brutality done by Pakistan on the Bangladeshis, and now they are trying to mislead them, which is completely wrong…,” Shukla said on Monday to ANI.
“We wanted Bangladesh to play and we also assured full security, but since they have made this decision, it is very difficult to change the entire schedule at the last moment. This is why Scotland was brought in..,” he added.
#WATCH | Delhi | On Scotland will replace Bangladesh at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, BCCI Vice-President Rajeev Shukla says, “We wanted Bangladesh to play and we also assured full security, but since they have made this decision, it is very difficult to change the entire… pic.twitter.com/HZ7XecHOAX
— ANI (@ANI) January 26, 2026
Notably, Pakistan and Bangladesh were one country from 1947, but deep inequality and oppression led to separation in 1971. Bangladesh, which was earlier called East Pakistan, had a larger population, power and resources but was controlled by West Pakistan.
Bangladesh was denied democratic rights when the 1970 election victory of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s party was ignored, and in March 1971 the Pakistan Army launched Operation Searchlight, carrying out mass killings, genocide, systematic rape of women, targeting students, intellectuals, and minorities, and killing millions of civilians, which made coexistence impossible and forced Bangladesh to fight a Liberation War, leading to Pakistan’s surrender on 16 December 1971 and Bangladesh becoming an independent nation.
Also Read: Pakistan set to boycott India clash as T20 World Cup 2026 faces biggest crisis
His death is a great loss – BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla on Inderjit Singh Bindra
While talking about the demise of former BCCI President Inderjit Singh Bindra, BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla said:
“His death is a great loss. He made significant contributions at both the ICC and national levels. I remember that when we won the World Cup in 1983, we didn’t have the money to give to the players. With the help of Lata Mangeshkar ji, each player received Rs 1 lakh… Now that he is no longer with us, we pay our respects to him.”
BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla also spoke about Rohit Sharma and Harmanpreet Kaur being conferred with Padma Shri. He said:
“Rohit Sharma deserves this for the way he performed… This should have been given earlier, but we congratulate him on the award. Harmanpreet Kaur getting this award for her performance is the right thing, as is the award to para athlete Praveen Kumar…”
