Not once, but twice now have cricketing contests between recent World Cup winners (Women’s ODI cricket team won recently the CWC) India and Bangladesh have been cancelled. So what really happened and when? India women’s team were to host their Bangladesh counterparts for a 3 ODIs and 3 T20Is here in India but in the wake of the persistent diplomatic troubles between the two nations, the said contests, originally poised to take place at Kolkata and Cuttack, stand cancelled.
Earlier this year, another India versus Bangladesh contests, scheduled for August 2025 had been cancelled due to the skirmishes in Bangladesh owing to political turmoil that now seems to have hit peak crescendo.
But how is that?
Around five days ago, November 14, to be precise, thousands in Bangladesh marched onto the streets to mark one year since then (read former) Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had been forced to resign. This time around, the tensions are mounting further as the bespectacled 78-year-old has been sentenced to ‘death’- you read that right in a latest critical development in the troubled country. The tenth Prime Minister of Bangladesh has been accused of ‘crimes against humanity’, a severe charge that threatens to further incite violence in an already disturbed region in the beating heart of the sub-continent.
It is pretty obvious that a cricket series amid such a highly unstable political climate marked by immense social unrest would be anything but a no-brainer. Which is why the cricket fan as also the forever opinionated cricket must thank the venerable BCCI for taking a step that’s the best for our women’s team. For not just the end but at the beginning of the day as well, safety must be the priority, isn’t it?
Cricket can wait. And must return, when it can, after things get back to normal, however, the signs of which don’t apparently seem certain where Bangladesh is concerned. As per latest reports, India has suspended, where it stands at present, cricketing ties with its troubled neighbour.