Save Our Pak
Karachi (22 January 2026): Bangladesh has officially decided not to send its team to India for the ICC T20 World Cup. This decision has raised the question of which team will take Bangladesh’s place in the tournament.
After the ICC rejected Bangladesh’s request to move its World Cup matches to Sri Lanka, Bangladesh announced its final decision to withdraw from the tournament matches scheduled in India.
A day earlier, following an ICC meeting, officials stated that if Bangladesh stood by its decision, another team would be included in the tournament as a replacement.
According to a cricket website, the ICC has decided to include Scotland in the T20 World Cup instead of Bangladesh. The report says the decision was made based on team rankings.
The controversy began last month when, under pressure from extremist groups, the Indian government gave in and the BCCI removed Bangladeshi fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman from the IPL. During that period, protests against Bangladesh were also reported in India.
Due to these developments and rising security concerns, Bangladesh decided not to travel to India for the World Cup. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) requested the ICC to shift its matches to Sri Lanka.
Talks between the BCB and the ICC continued for two weeks. During discussions, Bangladesh also asked the ICC to swap its group with Ireland, as Ireland was scheduled to play all its group matches in Sri Lanka. The ICC rejected this request.
On Monday, the Pakistan Cricket Board wrote a letter to the ICC, expressing support for Bangladesh’s decision not to send its team to India for the World Cup.
It is important to note that this will be the first time 20 teams are participating in the ICC T20 World Cup. The teams have been divided into four groups, with five teams in each group. Bangladesh was placed in Group C.
Reported by Save Our Pak
