The International Cricket Council (ICC) replaced Bangladesh with Scotland in the upcoming Men's T20 World Cup on Saturday, January 24.
This comes after nearly three weeks of negotiations with the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) which had refused to send its team to India amid political tensions and security concerns.
As per multiple reports, Bangladesh repeatedly requested the ICC to relocate their group matches to Sri Lanka but ICC rejected their request, saying there was no security threat and relocating the games "would not be feasible."
The ICC announced its decision to board members via email, stating, "The BCB is not agreeable to playing the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 per the match schedule with their matches in India. We are, therefore, going ahead with the Board decision to replace Bangladesh in the tournament," as per ESPNcricinfo.
Scotland, who are currently 14th in the ICC T20 rankings will join Group C which also includes England, Italy, West Indies and Nepal.
Security concerns became a major issue after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) told Kolkata Knight Riders on January 3 to release Bangladeshi cricketer Mustafizur Rahman from their IPL 2026 squad without giving any reason.
This happened amid worsening relations between India and Bangladesh. Afterwards, the BCB informed the ICC of their decision to not travel to India for the major cricket event.
