Souring ties: Bangladesh wanted T20 WC shifted from India

New Delhi: The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has been instructed by its sports ministry to seek shifting of the country's T20 World Cup league games from India to Sri Lanka as there are "concerns about players' safety" following Mustafizur Rahman's ouster from the IPL on BCCI instructions, IANS reported.

The Shah Rukh Khan co-owned IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) released the Bangladesh left-arm pacer, who was bought for Rs 9.20 crore after a bidding war at last month's auctions in Abu Dhabi, following BCCI's diktat.

BCB president and former Bangladesh skipper Aminul Islam Bulbul refrained from making any public comment after an Emergency board meeting following the development.

However, government advisor Asif Nazrul said he has instructed the Board to ask the Jay Shah-led ICC to shift Bangladesh's four league games -- three in Kolkata and one in Mumbai -- to Sri Lanka.

"As the adviser in charge of the Ministry of Sports, I have instructed the Cricket Control Board to put the entire matter in writing and explain it to the ICC," Nazrul wrote in Bengali on his Facebook page.

"The board must make it clear that if a Bangladeshi cricketer, despite being under contract, cannot play in India, then the Bangladesh national team cannot feel safe travelling to India to play the World Cup.

"I have also directed the board to formally request that Bangladesh's World Cup matches be held in Sri Lanka instead," he further wrote.

Bangladesh's four league games are against West Indies (February 7), Italy (February 9), England (February 14) in Kolkata, followed by their last game against Nepal (February 17) in Mumbai.

A BCCI source, however, insisted that the shift is next to impossible with just a month left for the tournament.