New Delhi: The International Cricket Council issued the final ultimatum to the Bangladesh Cricket Board over its national team’s participation in the upcoming T20 World Cup and told the BCB to inform its government that if Bangladesh remains adamant on its stance of not travelling to India to play the World Cup matches, it will be replaced by another team at the tournament.
As per a report in ‘ESPNCricinfo’, the decision was followed by a vote at a board meeting in Dubai on Monday, with the majority of the ICC Board voting in favour of having a replacement.
ICC has granted BCB one more day to revert to its stance on playing in India.
If Bangladesh continues to refuse travel to India, they will be booted out, and Scotland, in all likelihood, will replace them in Group C at the T20 World Cup 2026. Scotland had failed to qualify for the mega-event, having finished behind the Netherlands, Italy and Jersey in the European Qualifier.
The marquee T20 tournament starts on February 7 in India and Sri Lanka.
Jay Shah chairs ICC meet as Bangladesh’s fate hangs in balance
The meeting on Wednesday was chaired by Chairman Jay Shah in Dubai. The meeting was also attended by BCB President Aminul Islam and the representatives from all Full Member boards.
Despite ICC’s ultimatum on January 19, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) remained adamant on its stance of not sending the national cricket team to India to play the World Cup matches in India. Bangladesh were scheduled to play their group-stage matches in India, with the opening three games slated to be held in Kolkata and the remaining one in Mumbai.
The BCB-ICC standoff began when IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) removed pacer Mustafizur Rahman from the IPL 2026 squad after a directive from the BCCI, which referred to “recent developments all around”. The decision, it is believed, was taken due to the massive uproar in India over the brutal killings of minorities, mainly Hindus, in Bangladesh.
Angered by the move, the Bangladesh government banned the broadcast of the IPL in the country and told the ICC that the Bangladesh national cricket team will not travel to India for the T20 World Cup 2026. Citing security concerns, the BCB asked the ICC to shift Bangladesh’s matches to Sri Lanka, but the ICC rejected the request and cited that there is no security threat to Bangladesh in India.
Both BCB and ICC have remained adamant in their stance but now the latter finds itself in a tricky position where the only rational alternative seems to be to backtrack.