Bangladesh T20 World Cup 2026 Participation Controversy, LIVE Updates: Scotland 'Ready' To Replace Bangladesh, But No Call From ICC Yet

According to a report by the BBC, Scotland are ready to replace Bangladesh in the T20 World Cup, should they receive a call from the International Cricket Council. However, there has been no contact yet from the ICC towards Scotland regarding this matter.

Ranked 14th in the ICC T20I rankings, Scotland are the highest-ranked team in line to fill in if Bangladesh are replaced.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) had stated in an official response that, after assessment, the security risk of the tournament being held in India was "low to moderate". Reports indicated that independent risk assessments found no specific or direct threats targeting the Bangladesh team, its officials, or any match venues in India.

Amidst the off-field tension between India and Bangladesh, leading Indian bat manufacturer SG reportedly decided to not continue its association with top Bangladesh players like T20I captain Litton Das. On top of that, another leading Indian sports apparel brand SS (Sareen Sports) reportedly opted to not distribute its products in Bangladesh. These developments could lead to significant financial losses for cricket in Bangladesh.

As it stands, the ICC has given Bangladesh the deadline of January 21 to decide its status on participating as per the current schedule of the T20 World Cup 2026. Otherwise, they could "risk being replaced by another team".

"The BCB officials have been told to decide on the participation by January 21. If they refuse to travel to India, then they should be ready to be replaced by another team as per rankings," said an ICC source.

On January 17, the Bangladesh Cricket Board sent a stunning offer to the ICC - to simply swap their group (Group C) with Ireland (Group B). The motive behind this was that all of Ireland's group matches are scheduled in Sri Lanka, meaning had the swap taken place, Bangladesh's group games would be held in Sri Lanka instead.

However, Cricket Ireland (CI) confirmed that they had received assurances from the ICC that their schedule will not be changed, as reported by Cricbuzz.

There has been considerable back and forth between the ICC and the BCB, following the initial request from the latter regarding the change of venue. No conclusion was reached in their first meeting on January 13, with the ICC, headed by chairman Jay Shah, stating that there will not be a change in the T20 World Cup 2026 schedule.

Then followed a rather interesting request from Bangladesh.

Amid the BCB's request to the ICC to shift their matches from India, former Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal urged the BCB to keep in mind the long-term consequences of such a move. Reacting to this, then-BCB director M Najmul Islam labelled Tamim an "Indian agent" on his Facebook account, and his post quickly went viral.

Najmul Islam was eventually sacked from his post for his comments on Tamim after Bangladesh's domestic cricketers went on strike.

Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman's Rs 9.2 crore IPL 2026 buy by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) led to massive criticism from a section of social media users, amid political tension between India and Bangladesh. KKR were ultimately instructed by the BCCI to remove Mustafizur from their roster, triggering the saga.

Following this, the BCB requested the ICC on January 4 to shift their T20 World Cup 2026 matches from India to a neutral venue, citing security concerns.

Bangladesh's participation in the T20 World Cup 2026 has been the biggest talking point in the cricket world in recent weeks. As it stands, the International Cricket Council (ICC) have given an ultimatum to the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), urging it to decide on its participation by January 21.

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