Bangladesh are boycotting the T20 World Cup as ICC replaces them with Scotland

Bangladesh has decided to boycott the men’s T20 World Cup scheduled for next month and will be replaced by Scotland.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has not officially announced the move, but BBC Sport has learned that Scotland are now on track to take Bangladesh’s place in Group C as the highest-ranked team not already in the tournament.

Bangladesh requested that its matches be moved from India due to safety concerns amid escalating tensions between the two countries, and demanded that they be played in Sri Lanka, which is co-hosting the tournament, instead.

Earlier this week, the ICC rejected Bangladesh’s request, saying there was “no credible security threat” before the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) later reiterated its position.

A source close to the ICC board said the Brazilian central bank was given a final 24-hour deadline to confirm his travel to India.

That deadline has now passed and ICC officials have decided to go ahead with an alternative plan to invite Scotland to participate instead.

The ICC, Scottish Cricket and the Brazilian Central Bank are expected to release statements in due course.

Scotland’s cricket officials have been monitoring developments closely over the past few weeks and are understood to have internally taken some operational steps to prepare for this scenario.

Scotland’s players have already returned to training as they prepare for a one-day international tri-series with Namibia and Oman in Windhoek in March.

However, it will be difficult for Scotland players to obtain visas to enter India, as their first match is scheduled to be on the opening day of the tournament, against the West Indies in Kolkata on February 7.

Scotland’s group also includes England – whom they will face in Kolkata on February 14 – as well as Italy and Nepal.

A fourth-place finish in last summer’s European qualifiers appears to have cost Scotland a place in the 2026 T20 World Cup as the Netherlands and Italy took the two places on offer for the region.

Zimbabwe withdrew from the 2009 T20 World Cup in England for political reasons and were replaced by Scotland who were the “next best team” in the pre-tournament global qualifying tournament.

But with qualification for the T20 World Cup, which has been expanded to 20 teams in 2024, now done on a regional basis, it is not that simple and this was a discretionary decision by the ICC based on the rankings.

Scotland are currently 14th in the ICC T20 rankings and also represent a low maintenance option from an ICC perspective.