ICC Announces Scotland Will Play Instead of Bangladesh in World Cup

Bangladesh will not be playing in the upcoming T20 World Cup. Scotland will take their place. The International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed this information in a report published on its website on Saturday (24 January).

According to the world cricket’s governing body, this decision was taken as the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had earlier refused to participate in the tournament as per the published schedule. Scotland will be added to Group ‘C’ in place of Bangladesh. The group also includes England, Italy, Nepal, and West Indies.

The upcoming T20 World Cup is being jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka and is set to begin on 7 February. Most of Bangladesh’s matches were scheduled to be held in India. Recently, citing security concerns, the BCB informed that they would not play in India. In this regard, they sent a letter to the ICC.

In a statement, the ICC said it was not possible to accommodate BCB’s request at such a late stage before the tournament, and therefore this difficult decision was taken. The statement further mentioned that the ICC followed a comprehensive process to address the concerns raised by the BCB regarding hosting their scheduled matches in India.

The statement also said that multiple rounds of discussions were held with the BCB over a period of more than three weeks. As part of this process, the ICC reviewed BCB’s concerns, commissioned and considered independent security assessments from internal and external experts. The ICC Business Corporation (IBC) Board engaged in discussions at various levels in India. India reiterated its assurances regarding security. The concerns raised regarding the Bangladesh cricket team, officials, and spectators for matches in India did not present a credible threat. Based on the findings and after carefully considering the broader implications, the ICC decided that it was not possible to amend the published event schedule.

Earlier, following a meeting with the BCB last Wednesday, the ICC had given them 24 hours to confirm their decision. However, stating that no satisfactory response was received from the BCB within the stipulated time, the ICC took this decision.