The ICC has confirmed Scotland will replace Bangladesh at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, after the Bangladesh Cricket Board refused to participate as per the published match schedule.
Scotland have been drafted into Group C alongside England, Italy, Nepal and West Indies, with the tournament set to begin on February 7.
The decision brings to a head weeks of back-and-forth after the BCB raised concerns about playing its scheduled fixtures in India and sought a shift of those matches to Sri Lanka, the tournament’s co-host. The ICC said it rejected that request in the absence of any “credible or verifiable security threat” to Bangladesh’s team, officials or supporters, following independent assessments by internal and external experts.
In the ICC release, the governing body laid out its timeline and reasoning, stressing both the length of engagement with the BCB and the final deadline given to confirm participation. The full ICC statement in the release reads:
“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.
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.
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.
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.
Following a meeting on Wednesday, the Bangladesh Cricket Board had been given a 24-hour timeframe to confirm whether its team would participate in India as scheduled. As no confirmation was received within the deadline, the ICC proceeded in line with its established governance and qualification processes to identify a replacement team.”
The statement is doing two things at once: defending the ICC’s refusal to alter a published World Cup schedule so close to the start date, and making clear that the trigger for Bangladesh’s removal was administrative — no confirmation within a defined window — rather than a sudden competitive decision.
For Scotland, it is a dramatic late entry into the main event. The ICC said Scotland were the next-highest ranked T20I side that had originally missed out on qualification, noting they are currently ranked 14th.
The immediate on-field impact lands in Group C, where Bangladesh’s absence removes a full-member side from the mix and inserts a battle-hardened associate who have built a reputation for punching above their weight in global tournaments. For England, West Indies and the rest, it changes the scouting file overnight — different bowlers, different match-ups, different tempo — and at this stage of the cycle, that matters as much as rankings.
The bigger aftershock, though, is institutional. Once the ICC puts “no credible or verifiable security threat” in writing, it hardens the official line: the event will run as scheduled, and participation is non-negotiable once the process is exhausted.
Bangladesh, meanwhile, are out of the 2026 edition — and the replacement has been formally named. The World Cup moves on, but the precedent is the real headline: when a board refuses to play the schedule, the ICC is now showing it will call the next team up and keep the tournament machine running.
