Judgment day on Bangladesh (Photo: Getty/PTI)
Bangladesh Cricket Board: Bangladesh’s deadline to play in the T20 World Cup 2026 is about to end. In the meeting held in Dhaka on 17 January, ICC had asked Bangladesh Cricket Board to give its final decision by 21 January. The deadline is about to end but till now there is no murmur from Bangladesh Cricket. They are still silent and if this silence continues further then Bangladesh may be out of T20 World Cup 2026.
What will be the final decision of Bangladesh?
When the last talks were held with ICC, Bangladesh Cricket Board was adamant on its demand in that too. He said that he wants to play in the tournament but on the condition that his matches are held outside India in Sri Lanka, which is the second host of the tournament. In that meeting, the safety of the players in Bangladesh was cited as the reason for not playing in India. Apart from this, Bangladesh had also demanded ICC to change its group. He said that his group should be changed with Ireland. Bangladesh is in Group C while Ireland is in Group B, which has to play all its matches in Sri Lanka. This is the reason why Bangladesh had placed this demand.
ICC’s deadline is now about to end
However, Bangladesh’s demands had no impact on the ICC. He had made it clear to him at that very moment that neither the schedule nor the group would change. Having said this, BCB was given an ultimatum by ICC to reach a conclusion by January 21.
If not Bangladesh then who?
Now the question is, if not Bangladesh then who? It is the day of decision on Bangladesh cricket team and if it is not in their favour, then in that case Scotland may get a chance to play. It is believed that on the basis of better ranking, Scotland may get a chance to play in T20 World Cup 2026 in place of Bangladesh. However, there are reports that the ICC has not yet contacted the Scotland Cricket Board regarding this.