ICC confirms Bangladesh’s exclusion from T20 World Cup, Scotland to replace

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced that Bangladesh will not take part in the 2026 T20 World Cup. The global governing body said Scotland will replace Bangladesh after the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) refused to play under the published schedule.

The ICC made the announcement in a press release issued on Saturday evening, Bangladesh local time.

The ICC said Bangladesh's request to move its matches to Sri Lanka was rejected after assessments found no credible or verifiable security threat to the Bangladesh national team in India. The tenth edition of the T20 World Cup, jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka, is scheduled to begin on 7 February.

In its statement, the ICC said that with the tournament so close, it was not realistic to accommodate the BCB's request, and that it had therefore been forced to take a difficult decision. The ICC added that it had been engaged in "transparent and constructive discussions over multiple rounds" with the BCB for more than three weeks regarding concerns raised about the safety of Bangladeshi players, officials and supporters in India.

Referring to independent security assessments conducted by internal and external experts, the ICC said: "The assessments concluded that there is no credible or verifiable security threat to the Bangladesh national team, officials or supporters in India. In light of these findings, and after considering the wider implications, the ICC determined that amending the published event schedule would not be appropriate."

Concerns over the safety of Bangladeshis in India intensified after Mustafizur Rahman was withdrawn from the IPL on 3 January following threats from extremist elements. Citing the inability to guarantee the security of a single individual, the BCB and Bangladesh's interim government expressed fears about the safety of World Cup players and others in India.

After sending a request to the ICC on 4 January to move Bangladesh's matches from India to Sri Lanka, the BCB and the ICC held discussions for nearly three weeks through video conferences and in-person meetings.

At a board meeting on 21 January, the ICC informed the BCB that Bangladesh would have to play according to the pre-determined schedule.

In today's press release confirming Bangladesh's absence from the World Cup, the ICC said: "Following a meeting held on Wednesday, the BCB was given a 24-hour deadline to confirm whether it would travel to India to play. As no confirmation was received within the stipulated time, the ICC proceeded, in line with its established administrative and qualification processes, to identify an alternative team."

The ICC said Scotland had been invited as the highest-ranked team among those that failed to qualify. The Scots will replace Bangladesh in Group C, where they will face West Indies, England, Nepal and Italy.