BCB respond to claims of ICC deadline to make T20 World Cup decision

by Devesh Jaganath

image BCB respond to claims of ICC deadline to make T20 World Cup decision
The 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup is now less than three weeks away from kicking off, but there is still serious uncertainty around Bangladesh’s participation following their request to play their matches at the tournament outside of India. Here’s the latest update on the situation.

BCB denies reports of deadline for T20 World Cup inclusion

The Bangladesh Cricket Board has officially responded to recent reports that cricket’s governing body, the International Cricket Council, had given them January 21 as the deadline to decide if they will be participating in the upcoming 2026 T20 World Cup. 

Following the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) instruction to the Kolkata Knight Riders to release Mustafizur Rahman from the 2026 IPL roster - and amid growing tensions between Bangladesh and India - the BCB made public that they will not travel to India for the World Cup, citing security concerns. 

The ICC and BCB met last Saturday, and discussions commenced with the BCB requesting their games be moved to Colombo, Sri Lanka, similar to the agreement between the BCCI and ICC for matches involving Pakistan at global tournaments. 

While the BCB have now come forward to confirm that the ICC did not accept the request to move their matches as yet, they have vehemently denied the claims that they were given a deadline to decide if they will participate in the competition. BCB media committee chairman Amjad Hossain said: 

“Last Saturday, on January 17, an ICC representative came, and our cricket board representatives held a meeting with him. Regarding World Cup participation, there was an issue with the venue, and we informed them of our reluctance to play there. We requested an alternate venue, and we held detailed discussions with the representatives. 

“They told us that they will inform the ICC about the issues and will let us know about the decision later on. In regard to these talks, they haven’t mentioned a specific date or when they will let us know. They just told us that they will let us know when the next discussion will take place. Thank you.”

The ICC have not released any formal communication as yet to suggest that Hossain’s statement was false. As it stands, Bangladesh are still expected to feature in the T20 World Cup next month in Group C, alongside England, Nepal, Italy and the West Indies. 

Scotland placed on standby to replace Bangladesh at T20 World Cup?

Following the reports of Bangladesh’s possible exclusion from the 2026 T20 World Cup after the January 21 deadline, multiple sources suggested that the ICC had placed Scotland on standby as a replacement for the Tigers at the global showpiece next month. 

The Scots missed out on qualifying for the World Cup after finishing fourth in the European Qualifiers. However, given their T20I rankings, Scotland would be eligible to participate in the tournament if Bangladesh had indeed been excluded. 

According to a recent update from the BBC, the ICC have not contacted Scotland at this stage to discuss whether they would be willing to step in. When contacted directly regarding the matter, Cricket Scotland said, “We aren’t commenting on this, thanks,” as per the report. 

With discussions between the BCB and ICC still ongoing, there is still a chance that the matter can be resolved. Failing resolution, it is understood that the more likely outcome will see the T20 World Cup feature 19 teams, with four teams competing in Group C of the competition.