Cloud hangs over India's scheduled tour of Bangladesh

The India tour of Bangladesh is effectively off. While no official announcement has been made, preparations for the short white-ball series scheduled for next month have been put on ice by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB). Understandably, the deteriorating diplomatic relations between the countries appear to be taking their toll.

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The first clear sign of the tour's cancellation, or rather its postponement, came when the BCB paused the sale of its media rights. The technical bidding was originally slated for Monday (July 7), with the financial bidding to follow on Thursday (July 10). The BCB remains hopeful that the India series - an unfettered cash cow for any cricket board - can be rescheduled for a later date.

"We will continue, we will take time to research the market. There is no point in rushing things. We can give different contracts," a BCB official told Cricbuzz in Dhaka. Initially, the BCB had planned to sell the media rights for a two-year period, from July 2025 to June 2027. However, it is now aiming to sell the rights for the three-match T20I home series against Pakistan, scheduled from July 17 to 25, before moving on to the remaining matches in the current cycle.

"They have informed us that there is no India series. After announcing the tender, they did not provide the ITT. They are selling, for now, only for the Pakistan series," an Indian broadcaster told this website on Thursday. The ITT, or Invitation to Tender, was originally scheduled to be available from June 15 to July 6. However, the sale of the document upon payment of USD 3,000 has now been deferred.