BREAKING: Scotland to replace Bangladesh at T20 World Cup

The International Cricket Council has announced that Scotland will replace Bangladesh at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026.

A formal announcement was made on Saturday, with Bangladesh will no longer competing in the tournament, with Scotland has been called up to take the spot place in Group C, joining England, Italy, Nepal and the West Indies.

It comes after the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) failed to confirm its team’s participation in India within the stipulated deadline.

Bangladesh requested to move their matches from India to Sri Lanka, who are co-hosts of the tournament which starts on February 7, though the ICC Business Corporation Board rejected the move.

In a statement released by the ICC, the Board made the difficult decision that it was not feasible to meet the BCB’s requests so close to the tournament.

“Altering the schedule 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 statement read.

It’s understood the Bangladesh Cricket Board had been given a timeframe, which concluded on Thursday, to confirm whether its team would participate in India as scheduled, or a replacement team would be named.

Scotland has been selected by virtue of being the next-highest ranked T20I team that had originally missed T20 World Cup qualification, currently ranked 14th, ahead of competing teams Namibia, United Arab Emirates, Nepal, USA, Canada, Oman and Italy.

The Scots fell short in European qualifying, finishing outside a top-two spot in The Netherlands back in July 2025.

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