Bangladesh boycotts T20 World Cup 2026, refuses to play in India; Scotland likely replacement

Bangladesh will not participate in the 2026 T20 World Cup after the International Cricket Council (ICC) turned down their request to relocate their matches to Sri Lanka. The team, led by Litton Das, was set to play all their group stage matches in India, with three games in Kolkata and one in Mumbai.

This decision was made on January 22, following an internal board meeting. The day before, on January 21, the ICC had discussions with BCB directors and issued a definitive deadline, indicating that if Bangladesh chose to withdraw from the tournament, Scotland would take their place before the start date on February 7.

In announcing this decision, BCB President Aminul Islam Bulbul emphasized that the intention is still to compete in the prestigious tournament, but once again rejected the idea of playing in India. He referenced the situation with Mustafizur Rahman, who was excluded from the Kolkata Knight Riders squad for IPL 2026. He pointed out that this is not just a singular issue, as the ICC suggested in their statement last night. He called on the governing body to relocate the matches from India and criticized the ICC for not finding a viable solution.

"We will continue to communicate with the ICC. We want to play the World Cup, but we won't play in India. We will keep fighting. There were some shocking calls in the ICC Board Meeting. The Mustafizur issue is not an isolated single issue. They (India) were the sole decision makers in that issue," Bangladesh Cricket Board President Aminul Islam Bulbul said.

"ICC had denied us our request to shift our matches away from India. We are not sure about the status of world cricket. Its popularity is going down. They have locked away 200 million people. Cricket is going to the Olympics, but if a country like us is not going there, it is ICC's failure," he added.

Bangladesh's T20 World Cup journey is set to kick off on the very first day against West Indies at the legendary Eden Gardens. Kolkata is also expected to host two additional matches featuring Bangladesh, before the team, led by Litton Das, heads to Mumbai for their concluding group match against Nepal. However, according to the initial arrangements, the ICC intends to substitute Bangladesh with Scotland without altering the overall schedule.

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