• PCB intervention believed to have little bearing on ICC’s position. 
• ICC remains firm on maintaining existing tournament schedule.
• No public statement from PCB on the matter made so far.
  

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has written to the International Cricket Council (ICC) expressing support for Bangladesh’s concern regarding travelling to India for the T20 World Cup 2026, just ahead of the governing body’s meeting on the matter, ESPNcricinfo reported.

In its correspondence, the PCB backed the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s (BCB) reluctance to play matches in India amid regional political instability. Sources said that the letter was also circulated among ICC Board members.

The ICC is reportedly set to make a final decision on Bangladesh’s involvement in the 2026 men’s T20 World Cup in its board meeting today (Wednesday).

The ICC will deliberate on Bangladesh’s request to relocate its World Cup fixtures to Sri Lanka, citing security concerns in India. However, it remains unclear whether the PCB’s correspondence prompted the ICC to convene the meeting.

While the timing of the PCB’s intervention has drawn attention, it is believed to have little bearing on the ICC’s current position. The governing body has so far stood firm on maintaining the existing tournament schedule, not allowing Bangladesh to play its matches in Sri Lanka, one of the event’s co-hosts alongside India, as requested.

The ICC reiterated this stance to the BCB during discussions held last week.

Backed by the Bangladeshi government, the BCB has maintained its refusal to travel to India for the group-stage fixtures. Despite multiple rounds of talks between the ICC and the BCB, including a recent meeting in Dhaka over the weekend, neither side has shifted its position. 

The ICC continues to insist that the matches proceed as scheduled, while the BCB remains unwilling to send its team to India.

The PCB’s entry into the issue follows days of speculation about its potential role in resolving the deadlock. Unconfirmed reports suggested that Pakistan had offered to host Bangladesh’s matches and that the PCB was even reconsidering Pakistan’s own participation in the World Cup, depending on the outcome of Bangladesh’s case.

The PCB has so far made no public statement on the matter.

With the T20 World Cup scheduled to begin on February 7, Bangladesh are currently slated to play their opening match against West Indies in Kolkata, followed by two more group games at the same venue, before concluding their group-stage fixtures in Mumbai.

The dispute traces back to the removal of Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman from Kolkata Knight Riders’ IPL 2026 squad on instructions from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), without any official explanation.

This development was followed by the Bangladesh government banning the broadcast of the IPL in the country, after which the BCB formally informed the ICC of its refusal to play T20 World Cup matches in India — a position it has maintained since.

Earlier reports suggest that Pakistan was expected to reassess its participation in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 in India-Sri Lanka, following increasing concerns related to the Bangladesh cricket team.

The Bangladesh government had reached out to Pakistan for support over its decision to skip travelling to India for the tournament, citing security concerns, sources told Geo News.

They added that Pakistan supports Bangladesh’s legitimate concerns, emphasising that they should be addressed and acted upon.

Pakistan has also stressed that no country should face pressure or threats from India, assuring Bangladesh of its full support on the matter.

SAN FRANCISCO — Golden State Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy told reporters Tuesday night that he has no plans to move Jimmy Butler‘s contract prior to the Feb. 5 trade deadline, despite Butler’s torn ACL and the team’s desperate need for a roster upgrade to realistically compete in the Western Conference.

“I don’t envision that,” Dunleavy said. “Now that you’ve brought it up, I’d say my vision for him is to give us a boost next year the same way he did last year when he arrived.”

The Warriors had a lower profile but relatively similar situation manifest last regular season. Veteran guard De’Anthony Melton tore his ACL in November. In December, Dunleavy traded Melton’s contract to the Brooklyn Nets for Dennis Schroder. In February, he flipped Schroder as part of the package to the Miami Heat to acquire Butler.

On Monday, Butler tore his right ACL on an awkward landing against the Heat. The injury ends his season, and his absence, as Dunleavy admitted, is expected to bleed into next regular season.

Butler is owed $54.1 million this season and $56.8 million next in the final year of his current deal.

As the Warriors sort through the aftermath of the devastating injury news, there has been a thought that they could use his contract out on the trade market — presumably attached to draft picks — as an avenue to upgrade this win-now roster around Stephen Curry. Dunleavy, though, shot that down.

“At his age, to have the year he’s had is impressive,” Dunleavy said of Butler, who will turn 37 before next season. “I think he’s got a style of game that can play for a long time with his skill, his physicality, his mind for the game. So I guess my vision for him is him returning at some point between now and this time next year.”

Butler’s injury has a domino effect on Jonathan Kuminga, the Warriors’ embattled young wing who entering Tuesday has played only 10 minutes in the past month and issued a trade demand to the franchise last week as the DNPs pile up.

“I’m aware of [the trade demand],” Dunleavy said. “In terms of demands, when you make a demand, there needs to be a demand on the market.”

Butler’s absence could reopen a path to playing time for Kuminga, as Warriors coach Steve Kerr said prior to Tuesday night’s game against the Toronto Raptors. Kuminga has been buried in the rotation and disgruntled before, only to return to a high-usage role — most notably during the second round of the playoffs last May against the Minnesota Timberwolves after Curry strained a hamstring.

“I’m disappointed it hasn’t worked out better [with Kuminga],” Dunleavy said. “But it is what it is. …There’s still time left here. He’s on our roster. I know a trade has been requested, but nothing’s imminent and things in this league can change in a heartbeat, as they did last night. So he’s got to be ready.”

The Warriors are expected to pursue Kuminga trades up until the deadline, but Dunleavy did say he will use the next two weeks to assess where the Warriors stand in the aftermath of the franchise-altering Butler injury.

He said the Warriors could opt to use some of their future first-round picks to search out immediate help, but the threshold for a push-the-chips-in deal is high.

“If we’re talking about trading draft picks that will be going out when Steph isn’t here, it’s going to have to be a player that we think we’ll be getting back that is going to be here when those picks are going out,” Dunleavy said. “That player’s going to have to be pretty impactful. It would take a good amount — positionally, play style, archetype, all that. I would leave it pretty broad and open.

“But if there’s a great player to be had, we’ve got everything in the war chest that we would be willing to use.”

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The Indiana Hoosiers were ready to party Tuesday night, and hundreds of loyal fans joined them when they arrived back on campus in Bloomington.

Turning out in freezing temperatures and brutally cold wind chills, fans, players and coaches celebrated college football’s implausible national champions. The heartwarming scene reminded fans how Indiana’s journey emulated the Hollywood version in “Hoosiers.”

“Hoo, hoo, hoo, Hoo-siers,” fans chanted as six team buses pulled into the south side of the team’s practice facility.

At traditional football powers such as Alabama, Michigan or Ohio State, mid-January scenes like this can be an expectation. Bloomington is different.

Here, success is measured in banners rather than trophies, and athletes are expected to pride themselves on playing for the name on the front of their jerseys. Here, fans embrace tales of the work ethic of players from the small dots on their state map and pride themselves on the notion that in 49 other states, basketball is just, well, basketball. In Indiana, it’s akin to a religion.

Coach Curt Cignetti and his football Hoosiers are upending those traditions.

In two seasons, they created a compelling story — a rags-to-riches tale of college football’s losingest program capturing its first national title. Indiana beat Miami 27-21 Monday night on the Hurricanes’ home field — the pro-Hoosiers crowd made it feel like a game in Bloomington — and sealed the milestone with an interception by the nephew of a former Miami player.

How inspirational was this season?

“I am a Purdue graduate, but I have worked at IU for almost 20 years, and I told my colleagues today this is the first year ever I rooted for IU,” Leah Mullins said, referring to Indiana’s biggest rival. “I had to pull myself away from the Boilermakers because this season has just been so inspiring and so exciting and there’s just like, such a camaraderie within the community.”

That sentiment was on full display Tuesday night.

Whether it was people dressed in Indiana’s trademark crimson-and-cream candy-striped pants, IU window flags fluttering in the breezy air or the Hoosiers victory flag waving high above the stadium with the sun setting behind it, the excitement was evident.

On the main street leading to the stadium, somebody added the words “national champ” to a display of wooden cutouts that has steadily grown with each win this season. The Hoosiers became the first team since the 1890s to finish 16-0.

There were long lines to purchase national championship gear at a local sporting goods store earlier Tuesday, and when word came that the team had landed at Indianapolis International Airport, about an hour’s drive northwest of Bloomington, the parking lots started filling up.

But this is so new to Indiana, many fans were in the wrong location to catch a glimpse of Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza, defensive leader Aiden Fisher, Cignetti or the trophy. So they ran to their cars, followed the blaring sirens from the police escort and pulled in behind the buses.

“I haven’t seen Bloomington so connected and so ecstatic over anything in like a long time,” said Anika Drichel, a native of the college town of 85,000. “It’s so exciting.”

Some became believers when Cignetti won a school-record 11 games in 2024, with the only losses coming at eventual national champion Ohio State and eventual runner-up Notre Dame. Others hopped on board as Cignetti’s team beat then-No. 3 Oregon on the road in October or after the Hoosiers captured their first outright Big Ten title since 1945 by beating the Buckeyes. Others held out until the clock ran out on Monday night.

Those who didn’t get their chance to celebrate Tuesday will have other opportunities. Mendoza is scheduled to do an autograph session at a sporting goods store on Wednesday morning. The trophy will be on display at a grocery store on Wednesday and a Wal-Mart on Thursday.

The party will continue Saturday, with the school announcing a championship celebration at Memorial Stadium where fans can cheer on the CFP-winning Hoosiers at the end of a truly historic season.

“When it started getting really good I was like, ‘Well, you know maybe I should [get on board], this is really great,'” Mullins said. “And Fernando is such a great kid, I mean all of them. They’re all such good guys, it’s almost like, how can you not support these guys?”

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.