Two International Cricket Council (ICC) officials are set to travel to Dhaka in an effort to break the impasse over Bangladesh's participation in the Twenty20 World Cup. The senior ICC representatives will hold discussions with the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on the issue that has remained unresolved since Bangladesh took the extreme position demanding relocation of their matches out of India in the February 7-March 8 tournament.

On the face of it, the ICC visit appears to be a last-ditch effort by the governing body to persuade the intransigent BCB. More than that, however, it is also intended as a confidence-building initiative, aimed at ensuring Bangladesh does not feel isolated by the ICC and the wider world cricket community.

The ICC outreach comes after discussions were believed to have reached a point of no return during a video call between the parties a couple of days ago, precisely on Wednesday, when BCB president Aminul Islam expressed his displeasure, virtually derailing the talks. However, the ICC reached out to the BCB once again in an effort to find a common ground. The discussions are also expected to involve the representatives of the Muhammad Yunus government in the country.

At the centre of the imbroglio are two issues: the perceived security threat to Bangladesh players in India and the Mustafizur Rahman controversy. The ICC's security assessment is believed to have rated the threat level in India as moderate to low - a level that is neither unprecedented nor abnormal. In contrast, the perceived security risk for the players within Bangladesh itself is understood to be higher, assessed as moderate to high.

The Dubai emissaries will seek to impress upon their BCB counterparts that Bangladesh, as a cricketing nation, is important to the ICC and to the global cricket ecosystem. However, the interests and concerns of the other 19 participants are as important. As the game's governing body, the ICC has a responsibility to accommodate the requests of players, officials and fans from all 19 other competing nations.

Islam is understood to be stuck on a line in the security report suggesting a threat in the highly hypothetical scenario of a breakout of communal violence in the country. The BCB president also pointed out the perceived threat to Mustafizur Rahman, again in an imaginary scenario of heightened communal situation in the country. Comments made by leaders of the BJP and Shiv Sena were also raised during the meeting. Inevitably, an increase in threat perception would be matched by enhanced security measures by both the ICC and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).