Which Team Will Replace Bangladesh If They Skip the T20 World Cup?

The ICC has apparently set a January 21 deadline for the Bangladesh Cricket Board to confirm travel plans to India for the 2026 T20 World Cup or face replacement by Scotland.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has allegedly received an ultimatum from the International Cricket Council (ICC) concerning its decision not to travel to India for the 2026 men’s T20 World Cup.

What Is ICC’s January 21 Deadline For Bangladesh?

As reported by ESPNcricinfo, the ICC has established a deadline of January 21 for the BCB to confirm their travel plans, or they will be substituted by Scotland, who would enter according to the current men’s T20I rankings. This information is reported to have been shared during a meeting between the two organizations in Dhaka on Saturday.

The BCB emphasized its request to relocate its matches from India, ideally to co-host Sri Lanka, due to safety issues. The report indicated that an advisory from an independent security agency sent to all 20 teams involved categorized the threat level in India as ‘medium to high’. The ICC communicated to the BCB that there is no particular security risk aimed at the Bangladeshi team or any other squad participating in matches in India.

The ICC is reported to have declined the BCB’s proposal to interchange groups with Ireland, who are scheduled to play all their group stage games in Sri Lanka.

The stalemate between BCB and ICC has stretched into its third week now. Bangladesh is set to compete in three group stage matches in Kolkata and one in Mumbai, commencing on the first day, February 7

BCB’s security issues emerged when the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) instructed the IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to remove Bangladeshi fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman from its IPL 2026 lineup, even though he had been signed on a Rs. 9.2 crore agreement in the auction from the previous year. Both the BCCI and KKR did not clearly specify the reason for the directive, but the former suggested an increasing anti-Bangladeshi sentiment in India.

The BCB has encountered some pushback internally, as former cricketers are advocating for a more diplomatic approach instead of a complete refusal to travel. The situation was recently complicated when a board official asserted, in a belittling manner, that the BCB would not incur losses by opting out of the World Cup and would not reimburse the players, leading to a player strike prior to a challenging resolution.

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