Dubai: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has officially announced that Bangladesh will replace Scotland in the Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 to be held in India and Sri Lanka from February 7 to March 8.
The governing body confirmed the development in a brief statement after rejecting Bangladesh’s request to shift their matches from India to Sri Lanka due to the lack of a credible or verifiable security threat.
“The ICC has announced that Scotland will replace Bangladesh in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026,” the apex body said.
“It was officially announced on Saturday that Bangladesh will no longer compete in the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup as the Bangladesh Cricket Board (PCB) refused to participate in the tournament as per the published schedule.
“Scotland have been drawn to take Bangladesh’s place in Group C, alongside England, Italy, Nepal and the West Indies.
“The announcement comes after the ICC rejected the PCB’s request to shift its matches from India to Sri Lanka in the absence of a credible or verifiable security threat to the Bangladesh national team in India.”
As a result, Scotland will replace Bangladesh in Group C to open their 2026 T20 World Cup 2026 campaign against the West Indies on February 7 in Kolkata, where they will play two more group-stage games 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.