Indian sports presenter Ridhima Pathak responds to BPL 2026 controversy, says, ‘I never set foot…

Indian sports presenter Ridhima Pathak clarified that she was not removed from the hosting panel by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) but she chose to step away

IPL 2026, Mustafizur Rahman, Sports Presenter Ridhima Pathak, Ridhima Pathak, Kolkata Knight Riders, KKR, Shah Rukh Khan, Bangladesh Premier League, ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, Waqar Younis, Ramiz Raja, and Darren Gough, Zainab Abbas — Ridhima Pathak responds to BPL 2026 controversy

New Zealand: Indian sports presenter Ridhima Pathak took to Instagram on Wednesday to address the ongoing rumours about her role in BPL 2026. She clarified that she was not removed from the hosting panel by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) but she chose to step away, stressing that her loyalty to her country comes first.

The clarification came following the reports which hinted at strained sporting relations between India and Bangladesh, which claimed that Pathak had been formally removed from her BPL hosting role. The current edition of the tournament, however, is already underway in Sylhet.

Ridhima Pathak clarified she never set a foot on Bangladesh soil

Speaking to Zee news, Indian sports presenter Ridhima Pathak said, “Remember, I never set foot on the soil of Bangladesh! I never went for the league. I had opted out while I was doing ILT20. They had asked me to come because they had no other local talent. I was planning to join them after ILT20, but with everything that happened, I decided to say no.”

Ridhima Pathak, who has hosted numerous international events for Star Sports and Sony Sports in India, was scheduled to co-host BPL 2025-26 in Bangladesh alongside Pakistan’s Zainab Abbas. This season, the BPL has restructured its presentation and commentary teams following Ridhima’s decision to opt out of the tournament.

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Zainab has now arrived in Bangladesh with veteran commentators Waqar Younis, Ramiz Raja, and Darren Gough, while Ridhima will no longer be part of the lineup.

Tension escalated after BCCI asked KKR to release Mustafizur Rahman

Tensions escalated between the two natin when the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) asked Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to release Bangladesh’s star pacer Mustafizur Rahman from their squad. In response, the Bangladesh government imposed a nationwide ban on the live telecast of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and requested ICC to shift their T20 World Cup matches to Sri Lanka. The IPL is scheduled to begin on March 26, 2026.

Bangladesh Cricket Bard (BCB), urged the ICC to move their T20 World Cup fixtures out of India citing security concerns, while maintaining the IPL broadcast ban. However, the ICC reportedly informed Bangladesh that the matches must be played in India, or they would face forfeiture.