Bangladesh accepts ICC decision to replace it with Scotland in T20 World Cup 2026
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on Saturday said it had accepted the ICC’s decision to replace its national team with Scotland in next month’s T20 World Cup 2026, conceding there was nothing more it could do.
The global body was forced to make the late change after Bangladesh remained firm in its stance that it was unsafe for its players to travel to India for the T20 World Cup, despite an independent security assessment ruling out any specific threat.
BCB media committee chairman Amjad Hossain said the Board had tried its best but knew the ICC “will not do it” or “do not want to” in terms of meeting Bangladesh’s request, and that there was “nothing more” it could do.
“We have tried our best. We fully respect the ICC Board, and the Board’s majority decision was that the match cannot be relocated,” he said.
“Even after that, we tried in our own way and made requests. Since they will not do it or do not want to, there is nothing more we can do,” Hossain added.
“We have accepted the ICC Board’s decision, as the ICC has said that we will not be able to go and play, nor can our match be shifted to Sri Lanka.” He indicated that the BCB might not go for “any separate arbitration or any other process”.
“In this case, we cannot go to India to play, and our stance remains the same. We are not going into any separate arbitration or any other process here.
“We have spoken with the government. The government has said that going to India to play in the World Cup would not be safe for us, for our players, journalists, or anyone accompanying the team,” Hossain said.
“In that case, we requested that our match be shifted to Sri Lanka. However, the ICC did not agree to that, even after several rounds of meetings. Since the ICC did not respond, there is not much we can do because this is the government’s decision.
The BCB had requested the ICC to either move its matches to Sri Lanka or shift its national team from Group C to Group B.
Both requests, however, were rejected by the ICC.
Published on Jan 24, 2026
