The International Cricket Council (ICC) has directly rejected the demand of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) to move the venue of the T20 World Cup from India due to security concerns. The world cricket governing body has said that Bangladesh will have to go to India to play the World Cup. Otherwise, there is no option but to give up points or withdraw from the tournament. This information has emerged in reports by cricket-based websites ESPN Cricinfo and Cricbuzz.

The report said that this strong message was given in an online meeting held between the ICC and the BCB on Tuesday. Cricbuzz reported that the ICC does not agree with the BCB's claim about security concerns in India. They have made it clear that they are adamant on their position and there is no scope for changing the venue.

However, the Cricinfo report said that the BCB has denied receiving such an 'ultimatum' from the ICC. Although no final decision was taken in the meeting, it is learnt that the BCB has been given a deadline of Saturday to inform them of their final position.

Meanwhile, neither the ICC nor the BCB has made any official statement regarding the outcome of this meeting.

The tension started with the exclusion of Mustafizur Rahman from the IPL. KKR released Mustafizur Rahman on the instructions of the BCCI under pressure from political and religious groups in India. In protest, the Bangladesh government stopped broadcasting the IPL in the country and the BCB refused to play the World Cup in India, citing security reasons.

Meanwhile, there is only a month left for the World Cup to start. As per the schedule, Bangladesh's World Cup campaign is scheduled to begin with a match against the West Indies in Kolkata on February 7. There are also matches against England and Italy in the group stage in Kolkata and the final match in Mumbai. Now, it remains to be seen what decision the BCB takes after this tough stance of the ICC.