Will Bangladesh tour India in September despite ex-PM Sheikh Hasina getting temporary asylum in country?

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Indian cricket team's next assignment is against Bangladesh in September, and the unprecedented turn of events will only increase the focus on this series. India's neighbour on the eastern front are in news for the massive political unrest in the country.

A peaceful student protest became so violent that Sheikh Hasina was forced to resign as Bangladesh and flee out of the country in a hast on Monday, August 5.

The violent unrest in the neighbourhood automatically brought India into the picture, and once Sheikh Hasina decided to make her first stop to India after escaping from Bangladesh, the country took a centre stage.

Not delving too much into the geopolitical aspects of the matters, let's find if India giving a temporary asylum to Sheikh Hasina would impact Bangladesh's tour of India.

Bangladesh will first lock horns with India in a two-match Test series starting September 19 in Chennai. The second Test will be played at Kanpur from September 27 to October 1, before a three-match T20I series - October 6 in Dharamsala, October 9 in Delhi and October 12 in Hyderabad.

Will Bangladesh cricket team tour India? Or will there be a surprise from the Bangladesh government? Even the Bangladesh tour of Pakistan stood a chance of cancellation, but as things stand, the two-match Test series is likely to take place at the scheduled time.

Bangladesh A team landed in Pakistan on Saturday, August 10 after a four-day delay. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) earlier said that the A team will leave at least after a 48-hour delay, but finally managed to send the team four days after the originally scheduled date of August 6.

The team trained in Dhaka before leaving, and the senior team has also resumed their practice of the formation of the new interim government led by Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus has been formed in Bangladesh. His cabinet of 17 people began work on Friday. 25-year-old Asif Mahmud, a linguistic graduate, has taken charge of the sports ministry.

Things are returning back to normal in Bangladesh, and the BCB officials have also done well to get the cricket running in the country once again. It should also be noted that Bangladesh A team was sent after a slight delay despite Several BCB directors, including president Nazmul Hassan, being also forced to leave Bangladesh as they were backed by Sheikh Hasina's party Awami League.

With the Pakistan army in favour of the interim government, the situation is expected to get better in Bangladesh. The tour of India is still a month away, and therefore sending the team to India should also not be a problem.

What can impact Bangladesh tour of India?

However, there is a sensitive issue which can impact the series. Bangladesh have started to demand the arrest of Sheikh Hasina and send her back to her country. Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) of Bangladesh has alleged that Hasina has killed many in the country.

SCBA President AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon is also the Joint General Secretary of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the principal Opposition party of Bangladesh.

Muhammad Yunus, the chief of Bangladesh's interim government has also said that he was "hurt" by India's stance on the unrest. After India called it an internal matter, Yunus said, "If there is a fire in the brother's house, how can I say it is an internal affair."

"The BNP believes that Bangladesh and India should have cooperation. However, supporting our adversaries complicates the maintenance of that cooperation," Gayeshwar Roy, a BNP leader has stated.

Can BCB afford to not send Bangladesh to India over a political matter?

When politics is mixed with cricket, the end result is never good. India and Pakistan have not played a bilateral series for over a decade now. However, the political relation between the two countries is directly strained, and the matters involved are far more sensitive in nature.

Sheikh Hasina had a close working relation with India, and therefore the new Bangladesh regime might not look to have the same stance for India despite New Delhi looking to engage itself with the new government in Dhaka. PM Narendra Modi congratulated Muhammad Yunus, but asked him to ensure the safety of Hindu minority. The Indian ambassador also attended the swearing-in ceremony.

Regardless, the matter should not affect the cricketing relationship between the two nations. BCCI is a superpower in world cricket, and BCB will dare not look to ruffle feathers with them.