Aminul bets on September series to mend fences with India

Aminul Haque, the State Minister for Youth and Sports, said on Tuesday that they are waiting to host India in September.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had earlier announced that they will host India for three-match One Day International and T20 International series in August-September 2026.

The BCB insisted that the series, which was scheduled to be played earlier and was postponed later, had been rescheduled to the current timeline.

With no T20Is scheduled for India’s tour of Sri Lanka in August as opposed to the earlier discussions, it strongly suggested that doubts over the possibility of India touring Bangladesh are beginning to fade. 

The BCB also said that they will enhance security for the India series if required, while the board earlier announced that they were hopeful about hosting their neighbours despite the earlier uncertainty.

As a result, cricket’s governing body in the country decided to invite Expressions of Interest for its 2026 and 2027 home internationals, with a specific mention of India's 2026 tour.

However, fresh doubts emerged over the series after BCB put the media rights selling process on hold despite issuing a tender notification inviting bids for the media rights earlier this month.

Bangladesh and India have had a strained relationship in the recent past that forced the then Muhammad Yunus-led interim government to withdraw from the last ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in India citing security issues.

Aminul said that he feels they can overcome the distance with the neighbouring country through sports diplomacy after the arrival of the touring party.

“The current government is giving utmost importance to sports diplomacy. And since cricket is a status symbol for us, since we have a very strong position in world cricket, in that regard, we firmly believe that there has been a tension over a past incident, the World Cup cricket, we have already spoken to the Indian Embassy, they have also spoken to us, they are all waiting for India to come to Bangladesh in September,” Aminul told reporters in Dhaka on Tuesday.

“After arriving, I think that we will overcome the tension that was there (between the two countries) over a small incident in the past and hopefully our sports diplomacy, our communication, our movement, everything will continue with our neighbouring country,” he added.

Earlier, Bangladesh’s Sports Ministry formed a committee to investigate reasons behind the T20 World Cup withdrawal.

It was announced after another committee was formed to find out whether skipping the world event was a diplomatic failure.