It’s all but confirmed: Bangladesh will not play in the Men’s ICC T20 World Cup 2026. With less than three weeks to go for the marquee men’s tournament of the year, Bangladesh, who are also a Full Member Nation, have pulled out, or “boycotted”, as said by some, from the upcoming T20 World Cup following ICC’s rejection of their demand to shift their matches from India to Sri Lanka, the co-host of the tournament.
This is a huge decision taken by the BCB following directives from their government, citing security concerns in India.
On January 21, it was learned that the ICC had given the BCB one more day to consult with their government and make their decision on whether their teams will travel to India to play in the competition starting on February 7. The ICC, whose chair is Jay Shah, remained firm in their stance of not budging by BCB’s repeated pleas to move their games to Sri Lanka.
It is reported that in the ICC’s board meeting on Wednesday, the governing council conducted a vote among its directors on this issue, with the outcome being that the majority of the directors voted in favor of replacing Bangladesh if they refuse to travel to India.
Of the 15 directors sitting in the ICC board meeting, 13 voted against Bangladesh, while only the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) offered a supporting arm to the BCB. Interestingly, the PCB had written to the ICC on Tuesday expressing its support to the BCB.
Which Team Will Replace Bangladesh After Pull Out From T20 World Cup 2026?
Scotland will replace Bangladesh in the T20 World Cup 2026 if Bangladesh pulls out from the tournament. Scotland will be added to the competition based on the ICC T20I team rankings.
The ICC has deemed that the security concerns for the Bangladeshi team are low in India, and hence it wouldn’t accept BCB’s request.
“The ICC Board noted that it was not feasible to make changes so close to the tournament and that altering the schedule under the circumstances, in the absence of any credible security threat, could set a precedent that would jeopardise the sanctity of future ICC events and undermine its neutrality as a global governing body,” the ICC said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh government’s sports advisor, Asif Nazrul, said that Bangladesh have not gotten “justice from ICC”. He added, “The security concerns did not arise from speculation or theoretical analysis. They arose from a real incident – where one of our country’s top players was forced to bow to extremists, and the Indian cricket board asked him to leave India. Simply put, he was told to leave.”
This is in reference to pacer Mustafizur Rahman, who was released by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) after being bought in the auction. KKR was told by the BCCI to release Mustafizur, with reasons not stated publicly.
The political tension between India and Bangladesh in recent months was the clear trigger for the Indian government and the BCCI to instruct KKR on releasing the left-arm Bangladeshi seamer.
After KKR let go of Mustafizur, the BCB and Bangladesh’s government made their own statements. The government banned the broadcast of the IPL 2026 in Bangladesh, while the BCB wrote to the ICC demanding their matches at the T20 World Cup be moved out of India to Sri Lanka.
On Thursday, BCB president Aminul Islam pointed out that last year, India played their ICC Champions Trophy matches in Dubai, although Pakistan was the designated host, after the Indian government denied the team permission to travel to Pakistan.
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