The timing of the PCB email could raise eyebrows, but it is understood that it will not impact the ICC’s stance so far, of not changing the World Cup schedule and allowing Bangladesh to play in Sri Lanka, co-hosts of the tournament with India. The ICC has been firm on this and has conveyed the same to the BCB during its interactions last week.

The BCB, with the Bangladesh government’s support, has refused to travel to India for the team’s group-stage games.

The ICC and the BCB have met several times to discuss the issue, most recently in Dhaka last weekend. But neither side has shifted their stances – the ICC insisting matches must go ahead as planned and the BCB that it cannot send its team to India. January 21 – Wednesday – had been set as a deadline for a decision, less than three weeks before the start of the tournament.

The PCB’s late involvement in the matter comes on the back of a week of speculation around their possible ways out of the impasse. There were unverified reports that the PCB had offered to stage Bangladesh’s games in Pakistan and, more dramatically, that the PCB was reviewing Pakistan’s participation in the World Cup, contingent on what happens with Bangladesh.

The PCB has not commented publicly on the matter, or responded to ESPNcricinfo’s queries.

The stand-off began when the BCCI instructed Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to remove Mustafizur Rahman from their squad for IPL 2026. The reasons for that have never been fully explained, though a worsening of political ties between Bangladesh and India has been cited. That prompted the Bangladesh government to formally state that the Bangladesh team would not play its matches in India.

The situation has spiralled since then, even leading to a player boycott  in Bangladesh, which affected the ongoing BPL, after a senior BCB official spoke disparagingly of the country’s premier players when asked about the financial implications for the BCB if Bangladesh ended up staying away from the T20 World Cup altogether

(Cricinfo)

Even though MI stuck to their opening pair from the last game, it didn’t change their powerplay fortunes. They continued to be the worst performing team in that phase, with a score of 23 for 2 against the DC quicks who kept aiming for the stumps. With some movement with the new ball, Nandani Sharma knocked over S Sajana’s off stump in the fourth over and Kapp had Hayley Matthews’ middle stump knocked back by two balls later.

The run rate was starting to plummet further as Sciver-Brunt kept finding the fielders and Harmanpreet got off to her usual slow start of 5 off 13. Until spin was introduced. Harmanpreet found the boundary twice as soon as Shree Charani erred with her lengths, including a trademark inside-out drive over the covers. Sciver-Brunt started to pepper the leg-side fence, and she stylishly brought up the half-century stand and push the run rate over six with an inside-out drive for the first six of the innings.

Just when Harmanpreet had started to turn into Harmonster with three consecutive fours off Shafali Verma  square of the wicket, DC dented MI’s middle order. The big wicket came through Shree Charani who had Harmanpreet hole out to long-on for 41 off 33 and even though Sciver-Brunt kept finding the boundaries regularly around the park and brought up her 11th WPL half-century – joint most  with Meg Lanning – and third of the season, Shree Charani’s double-wicket 18th over that went for just four runs rocked MI again. After just 11 runs in the 18th and 19th overs, Sanskriti Gupta’s last-ball six helped MI collect 13 from the last over to post 154, their lowest total this season.

DC had the kind of powerplay MI can only dream of this WPL. The MI bowlers strayed often with their lines and Shafali and Lizelle Lee  pulled and punched with confidence for boundaries to try and wipe out a good chunk of the target in the first six. They collected three fours each off Nicola Carey and Sanskriti in the second and sixth overs respectively, and the others in between for two fours each. With 57 smashed in the powerplay, DC had brought the asking run rate down to seven an over.