Scotland all set to replace Bangladesh in ICC T20 World Cup 2026

On Saturday, January 24, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced that Scotland will replace Bangladesh at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 campaign, starting on Saturday, February 7, in India and Sri Lanka.

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In its official media release, ICC confirmed that Bangladesh will not compete in the showpiece event after the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) refused to participate in the campaign in India due to security concerns.

That said, Scotland will join the mega event in Group C alongside England, Italy, Nepal and the West Indies. This news came to light after the ICC rejected the BCB’s request to move their games from India to Sri Lanka, which is co-hosting the campaign.

In the official media release revealed that the independent security assessments were conducted by internal and external experts, adding that the Board made the difficult decision that it was not feasible to meet the BCB’s requests with the tournament starting in two weeks’ time.

"The decision follows an extensive process undertaken by the ICC to address concerns raised by the BCB regarding the hosting of its scheduled matches in India," the ICC statement read.

"Over a period of more than three weeks, the ICC engaged with the BCB through multiple rounds of dialogue conducted in a transparent and constructive manner, including meetings held both via video conference and in-person,” the statement added.

"As part of this process, the ICC reviewed the concerns cited by the BCB, commissioned and considered independent security assessments from internal and external experts, and shared detailed security and operational plans covering federal and state arrangements, as well as enhanced and escalating security protocols for the event. These assurances were reiterated at several stages, including during discussions involving the ICC Business Corporation (IBC) Board.”

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"The ICC’s assessments concluded that there was no credible or verifiable security threat to the Bangladesh national team, officials or supporters in India. In light of these findings, and after careful consideration of the broader implications, the ICC determined that it was not appropriate to amend the published event schedule,” the statement concluded.

For the unversed, Scotland is the next-highest-ranked T20I team that had missed T20 World Cup qualification. They are currently ranked 14th in the latest ICC Men’s T20I team rankings.

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