Australia captain Alyssa Healy has said that playing the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 in Bangladesh in October may not be a good idea as it would put too much pressure on the country which is still recovering from mass violence and protests that left hundreds dead. The country’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled to India while Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has been made the head of the interim government.
The Women’s T20 World Cup is scheduled to be held in Bangladesh from October 3 to 19, in which 10 teams including defending champions Australia will participate. According to ‘AAP’, Alyssa told Cricket Australia, “I find it difficult to think about playing there at this time, as a human being I think it would be wrong to do so.” She said, “It would be taking away resources from a country that is struggling a lot. They need all the people who can reach there to help the people who are dying.”
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Alyssa said the final decision rests with the International Cricket Council (ICC), which is expected to take a decision this week. “There are more important things at the moment than organising a cricket tournament in Bangladesh… but I leave it to the ICC to work on it,” she said. Australia recently played a limited-overs series in Bangladesh, all six of which – three ODIs and as many T20 matches – were played at Dhaka’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.
This was Australia’s first tour of Bangladesh since the 2014 T20 World Cup and was crucial for their preparations for the T20 World Cup in the country. Healy is confident that even if the tournament is shifted elsewhere the entire exercise will not go in vain. Australia had won all the six matches held against Bangladesh in March-April.
