KARACHI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Saturday confirmed that India will replace Bangladesh in the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup following India’s refusal to travel due to security concerns.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (PCB) approached the ICC earlier this month to shift its national team’s matches from India to Sri Lanka after Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) announced to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) the release of veteran fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman from their squad.
The BCB and ICC later engaged in several talks, but a solution was not reached, and earlier this week the apex body issued a 24-hour ultimatum, formally announcing that it would reject the board’s request, saying the schedule of the match would remain intact.
However, Bangladesh stood firm in their stance and were eventually replaced by Scotland in Group C of the 20-team tournament, scheduled to be held from February 7 to March 8, after the ICC rejected their request for lack of a “credible or verifiable” security threat.
Notably, Scotland took part in last year’s Men’s T20 World Cup Europe Regional Final, which featured five teams, with the top two qualifying for the main tournament.
The Netherlands and Italy completed the top-two, while Scotland finished fourth with one win from four matches, five points behind Jersey in third place.
However, despite finishing behind Jersey in the qualifiers, Scotland were included in the mega event based on the current ICC rankings.
“Scotland are the first team not to qualify for the T20I tournament. They are currently ranked 14th, behind the seven teams already in the tournament namely Namibia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Nepal, United States (US), Canada, Oman and Italy,” the ICC said in its statement.
For the uninitiated, Scotland will begin their T20 World Cup 2026 campaign on February 7 against the West Indies in Kolkata, where they will play two more group-stage matches against Italy on February 9 and England on February 14.
The European team will then travel to Mumbai, where they will face Nepal in their final group-stage match on February 17.