PHOTO: FIROZ AHMED

Bangladesh national team cricketers were supposed to be playing official warm-up matches ahead of the T20 World Cup, set to begin on February 7 in Sri Lanka and India. Instead, the Tigers are preparing for a domestic five-day, three-team tournament -- the ODOMMO Bangladesh T20 Cup 2026 -- which begins today with Dhumketu XI facing Duronto XI. The tournament was arranged by the Bangladesh Cricket Board to fill the World Cup void after Bangladesh were replaced by Scotland following the board’s refusal to send the team to India due to security concerns. However, pacer Mustafizur Rahman, whose exclusion from the Indian Premier League sparked the chain of events that led to Bangladesh’s omission from the global event, appeared all smiles during yesterday’s practice, set to turn out for Dhumketu XI today.