The International Cricket Council's (ICC) internal security team is monitoring the unrest in Bangladesh, the hosts of the Women's T20 World Cup scheduled for October.
Cricket's parent body will wait and watch before deciding the fate of the tournament that will be played from October 3 to 20.
Sheikh Hasina, 76, resigned and left Bangladesh amid mass protests against her government over a controversial quota system that reserved 30% of government jobs for the families of veterans who fought in Bangladesh's war of independence against Pakistan in 1971.
An interim government will be taking over in Bangladesh, Army Chief General Waqar-uz-Zaman announced on Monday in Dhaka amid massive protests against the Hasina government that claimed more than 100 lives in the last two days.
"The ICC has an independent security monitoring system across all its member nations. The situation is being monitored closely but with seven weeks left for the tournament to begin, it will be too early to comment whether the tournament will be shifted from Bangladesh," an ICC board member told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
Bangladesh has been witnessing fierce demonstrations over a controversial quota system that reserves 30 per cent of jobs for the families of veterans who fought the 1971 liberation war.
The ICC source said a similar situation of unrest was there in Sri Lanka in March 2022 when protesters stormed former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa's official residence citing corruption and inflation.
However, the Australian cricket team had travelled there for a bilateral series in June.
The World in Bangladesh is scheduled to be held in Dhaka and Sylhet.
As of now, India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has "strongly advised Indian nationals against travelling to Bangladesh till further notice."
The BCCI has always gone by government advice in these kind of situations.
The ICC has contingency plans for unavoidable situations but Sri Lanka can be an option considering that the 2012 men's T20 World Cup was held there between September and October.
It will be interesting to see if the SENA countries (South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia) send their women's teams to a country where security situation could remain vulnerable.
Bangladesh 'A' team's arrival in Pakistan delayed
The Bangladesh 'A' team's arrival in Pakistan has been delayed by 48 hours because of the fluid situation in Bangladesh following the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Monday that the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had informed them that their men's 'A' team's departure for Islamabad has been delayed.
"The BCB and PCB have been in regular contact for the past two days and will continue to work together on the revised tour itinerary with further details to follow in due course," a board spokesperson said.
The Bangladesh 'A' team was due to arrive in Islamabad in the wee hours of Wednesday for two four-day and three 50-over matches from August 10-27.
The Bangladesh national team is also due to reach Pakistan on the August 17 for a two-Test series but due to the uncertain situation in Bangladesh, where the army has announced it would form an interim government, the PCB is awaiting confirmation from the BCB.
The series is part of the ICC's World Test Championship.
