Bangladesh-India cricket rivalry is widely recognized as one of the greatest in world sport. Boasting high stakes and passionate fan bases on both sides, its intensity makes for exciting entertainment.
Relations between India and Bangladesh have reached new lows, as evidenced by the Kolkata Knight Riders franchise’s decision to release Mustafizur Rahman from his IPL contract following widespread protests about alleged persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh, a situation that has also drawn attention to the broader Bangladesh National Cricket Team Vs India National Cricket Team Timeline and how political tensions have occasionally intersected with cricketing relations.
| Date | Format / Tournament | Venue | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 20, 2025 | ICC Champions Trophy 2025 (ODI) | Dubai International Stadium | India won by 6 wickets (India 231/4 vs BAN 228) (AiScore) |
| Sep 14, 2025 | Asia Cup 2025 (T20) | Dubai International Stadium | India won by 41 runs (IND 168/6 vs BAN 127) |
| Oct 12, 2024 | T20 Series – 3rd T20I | Hyderabad, India | India won by 133 runs (IND 297/6 vs BAN 164/7) (AiScore) |
| Oct 9, 2024 | T20 Series – 2nd T20I | Delhi, India | India won by 86 runs (IND 221/9 vs BAN 135/9) (SportsF1) |
| Oct 6, 2024 | T20 Series – 1st T20I | Gwalior, India | India won by 7 wickets (IND 132/3 vs BAN 127/10) (SportsF1) |
Tests
India-Bangladesh cricket rivalry has evolved into an intense sporting contest, featuring high stakes and passionate fan bases on both sides. First triggered by Bangladesh’s inclusion into international cricket in 1971, this competition now encompasses Test matches, ODIs, and T20Is between these two nations with long histories of close matches between cricketers who often demonstrate sporting sportsmanship during matchplay.
Bangladesh has made impressive strides over the last two decades in its cricket development, becoming an associate member of the International Cricket Council and regularly taking part in International Cricket Council tournaments while grappling with Test cricket. Yet despite these difficulties, Bangladesh has produced talented cricketers such as Mashrafe Mortaza, Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal – plus showing promising results at Asian Cup tournaments.
After an initially difficult start, Bangladesh finally started making strides under coach Dav Whatmore during the mid 2000s. His combination of experienced players like Habibul Bashar and Mohammad Ashraful with young talent such as Mashrafe Shakib Mushfiqur Rahim paid dividends; Bangladesh even won its inaugural ODI and T20I against South Africa and Sri Lanka and qualified for 2007 World Cup held in South Africa!
Bangladesh’s performance against India in T20Is has greatly improved over the years and now ranks third worldwide in this shortest format of cricket. Much of this improvement can be attributed to their young talent who have recently dominated Asia Cup tournaments and ensured Bangladesh remains at number three globally in this shortest format of play.
India and Bangladesh will meet for a two-Test and three T20I series in India starting March 18. Matches will take place in Bengaluru and Dharamsala with both teams expected to field full strength squads. India’s white-ball tour of Bangladesh had originally been scheduled for June 2024 by BCCI but due to an agreement with ICC it has been postponed until September 2026 due to such changes compromising future events by jeopardising their neutrality as global governing body.
ODIs
India and Bangladesh enjoy a fierce sporting rivalry in one-day internationals (ODIs). Over 42 meetings between them in ODIs, India has won 33. The series is known by various names: Asian Classico; Padma-Ganga Derby; Indo-Bangla Derby or Ganguly Mujib Trophy. Their rivalry was reignited after Bangladesh stunned India at 2007 ICC World Cup; since then there have been multiple high stakes, fierce matches between both teams.
Bangladesh has experienced remarkable strides in their cricketing abilities over recent years and have made considerable inroads against India both at home and abroad. Recently, they came close to beating India in the Asia Cup final as well as testing them to their limits in various ODI matches.
However, political tensions between both nations has only compounded tensions. Although invited to India for games, Bangladesh cricket board officials refused due to security fears; consequently, ICC declined moving the games, as doing so would compromise tournament sanctity and jeopardize neutrality of governing body.
India boasts an outstanding record in one-day internationals against Bangladesh, producing many memorable encounters between them. India has faced off against them five times at the ODI World Cup with India winning four and Bangladesh one – their last meeting ending with Rohit Sharma scoring a magnificent century to lead his side to a comfortable win.
Both teams will aim to improve their performances in one-day internationals after some disappointing showings in Dhaka in game one of this series. Both sides struggled to find good contact with the ball on a dry and choppy pitch; Rohit initially played aggressively before losing his touch as the innings progressed; Shubman and Rishad bowled well without success in getting any breakthrough.
On February 16, Kolkata will play host to the final ODI of this series between India and Pakistan before India heads south for three ODI matches against Sri Lanka under an ICC agreement that allows Pakistan to host World Cup matches in third countries under their own arrangements.
T20Is
India and Bangladesh’s intense rivalry is marked by high-stakes cricket matches with passionate fan bases on both sides. Both teams have met several times – including a memorable 2024 Champions Trophy final and 2018 Asia Cup semi-final, respectively – including an unforgettable Champions Trophy final and Asia Cup semi-final matchup in 2024 and 2018. In addition, an ICC World Cup group stage match this month in Dubai promises to add yet another chapter to this intense rivalry.
Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) recently made the announcement that Bangladesh will not travel to India for the 2026 T20 World Cup “under current conditions.” This move may be seen as a result of rising political tensions between them since former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled India for good in August 2024, followed by incidents of violence against Hindus including one man accused of blasphemy who was later executed.
Indian commentators have criticized the BCCI’s decision to release Mustafizur Rahman from his contract with KKR as illogical and politically driven. Kirti Azad, an esteemed journalist and former BJP leader told DW that this decision fits into an emerging trend of politicising sport by penalising players for political events taking place back home; she warned it could damage India’s credibility and regional ties.
India-Bangladesh World Cup matches are anticipated to draw millions of viewers and provide valuable revenue streams for tournament broadcasters. According to estimates provided by BBC, one match between India and Pakistan attracted an estimated 167 million viewers, making it one of the highest-attended T20Is ever. Furthermore, 2026 match between India and Bangladesh should draw even greater numbers.
The BCB says it will work closely with the International Cricket Council (ICC) to ensure Bangladeshi safety and security at this tournament, but has declined to change any match venues to prevent disruptions in competition’s schedule. ICC has assured BCB they will work towards safeguarding participation; regardless of political conditions it should not dampen enthusiasm for forthcoming matches.
ICC World Cup 2026
The 2026 edition of the ICC World Cup will begin on February 7, bringing 24 teams into four groups – India being in Group A alongside Pakistan, Netherlands, and Namibia; two-time champs Australia are joined by Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Scotland Nepal Italy. England are in Group C alongside Scotland Nepal Italy; matches will take place across India and Sri Lanka at venues like Wankhede Stadium Mumbai Eden Gardens Kolkata MA Chidambaram Stadium Chennai R Premadasa Stadium Colombo Pallekele Cricket Stadium Pallekele to host games throughout.
At first, teams will play three matches a day at 09:30 and 13:30 between rounds 1 and 2, culminating with one match per day on the last day of round-robin competition. At that point, eight of them will advance to Super 8s, played over two days between March 4 and 5; semifinals and final will then take place on Sunday 8 March.
India and Bangladesh will meet in the final of the 2026 World Cup unless the International Cricket Council decides otherwise due to security concerns in Balochistan province, where armed militants have attacked state forces recently. The ICC is closely observing Balochistan as they monitor any developments related to its situation there.
With relations between India and Bangladesh deteriorating rapidly, the Bangladesh Cricket Board wrote to the International Cricket Council requesting that its team not travel to India for its World Cup matches as a result of a recent attack on a police station in Quetta that left multiple people dead, including foreign nationals as well as members of security forces.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) made an unprecedented move when they decided to replace Bangladesh with Scotland, who are the next-highest-ranked T20I team worldwide. This decision came following ongoing protests by both Bangladeshi players and fans against not being permitted to participate in events, as well as political instability in the region.
