Bangladesh cricket is slowly heading towards a serious problem, and its impact could be much bigger than it seems right now. Many Bangladeshi cricketers may soon be forced to change their bat sponsors after India’s well-known sports equipment company SG decided not to continue its association with them.
Bangladesh Cricket felt the heat of diplomatic confrontation, SG pulled back
The sports equipment company has reportedly taken this decision after increasing cricket and diplomatic tensions between India and Bangladesh.
All the drama started when BCCI ordered Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to drop Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman from the IPL 2026 squad.
Also read: BCB took action against Jay Shah, made written attack on T20 World Cup amid India-Bangladesh dispute
BCCI has taken this controversial decision after political pressure following the ongoing violence against Hindus in Bangladesh. It is being told that more than 10 Hindus were murdered in Bangladesh, while more than 5 incidents of communal violence were recorded within five weeks.
The rift between India and Bangladesh deepens!
The matter escalated rapidly after Rahman’s exit. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) refused to give No Objection Certificate to Mustafizur to play in IPL 2026 and then approached the ICC and asked to shift Bangladesh’s matches in the 2026 T20 World Cup out of India to Sri Lanka, citing security concerns.
Even the Bangladesh government banned IPL indefinitely. As tensions between the two countries increased, its impact started reaching the business side of cricket.
Indian company SG currently sponsors some of Bangladesh’s top players including captain Liton Das, Yasir Rabbi and Mominul Haq, but they have now decided not to renew these sponsorship deals.
Big blow for Bangladesh cricketers, SG decides against contract renewal
The players are yet to receive any official message from the company, but their agents have already hinted that the partnership is likely to end very soon. “It looks like the same thing is likely to happen in the coming days,” www.telecomasia.net quoted a Bangladeshi player as saying.
The move could cause massive losses to Bangladesh cricket, as there are fears that other sports equipment companies may also choose not to sponsor Bangladeshi players.
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If this happens, many cricketers may struggle to secure sponsorship deals and the overall game in Bangladesh may suffer.
“I think other manufacturers may also choose not to sponsor our cricketers,” www.telecomasia.net quoted a source involved in sponsorship of players.
ICC T20 World Cup 2026: BCB approaches ICC after emergency meeting
On the other hand, BCB held an emergency meeting on January 4 and formally approached ICC with the request to shift Bangladesh’s matches to Sri Lanka in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2026. However, the ICC has not yet taken any final decision on this request.
The matter is still under consideration. Notably, Bangladesh has been placed in Group C of the ICC T20 World Cup 2026. They have to play three matches in Kolkata, in which they have to face West Indies on 7 February, Italy on 9 February and England on 14 February. Their final group-stage match is scheduled against Nepal on February 17 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
