Bangladesh have decided to boycott next month’s men’s T20 World Cup and will be replaced by Scotland.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has yet to formally announce the step but BBC Sport understands Scotland are now in line to take Bangladesh’s place in Group C as the highest-ranked team not already at the tournament.
Bangladesh had asked for their games to be switched from India citing safety concerns amid growing tensions between the countries and demanded to play them in Sri Lanka, which is co-hosting the tournament, instead.
Earlier this week the ICC rejected Bangladesh’s request, saying there was an “absence of any credible security threat” before the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) subsequently reaffirmed their position.
A source close to the ICC board said the BCB were given a final 24 hours to confirm they would travel to India.
That deadline has now passed and ICC officials have decided to press ahead with an alternative plan to invite Scotland to participate instead.
The ICC, Cricket Scotland and the BCB are expected to issue statements in due course.
Cricket Scotland officials had been closely monitoring developments for the past few weeks and it is understood that internally they have taken some operational steps to prepare for this scenario.
Scotland’s players were already back in training as they had been preparing for a one-day international tri-series with Namibia and Oman in Windhoek in March.
Nevertheless it will be a tight turnaround for Scotland’s players to obtain visas to enter India with their first match scheduled to be on the opening day of the tournament, against West Indies in Kolkata on 7 February.
Also in Scotland’s group are England – who they face in Kolkata on 14 February – plus Italy and Nepal.
A fourth-place finish at last summer’s Europe Qualifier had looked to have cost Scotland a place at the 2026 T20 World Cup as the Netherlands and Italy secured the two spots on offer for the region.
Zimbabwe withdrew from the 2009 T20 World Cup in England for political reasons and were replaced by Scotland who were the ‘next best’ team in a pre-tournament global qualifying tournament.
But with qualifying for T20 World Cups, which were expanded to 20 teams in 2024, now done on a regional basis it is not quite so straightforward and this was a discretionary decision by the ICC based on rankings.
Scotland are currently 14th in the ICC T20 rankings and also represent a low-maintenance choice from the ICC’s perspective. (BBC)
