The ICC board have voted to replace Bangladesh from the T20 World Cup 2026 on Wednesday. The Jay Shah led board held a crisis meeting with BCB firm on their stance to not travel to India for the tournament. ICC had set a Jan 21 deadline for Bangladesh to confirm participation, but BCB have decided against backing down. Scotland are likely to come in as replacement. The ICC Board is scheduled to meet on Wednesday to take a final call on Bangladesh's participation, including whether the team will travel to India for the tournament starting February 7.
Bangladesh are slated to play all four of their group-stage matches in India, with the first three scheduled in Kolkata and the remaining one in Mumbai. However, the Bangladesh Cricket Board, supported by its government, has remained adamant and sought a shift of its matches to co-hosts Sri Lanka.
The ICC and the BCB have held multiple discussions on the issue, including a meeting in Dhaka last weekend, but neither side has changed its position. While the ICC has insisted that the tournament be held as per schedule, the BCB has maintained that it cannot send their team to India. ICC have given Bangladesh an additional day to alter their stance and decide on their own fate.
The crisis related to Bangladesh began after Kolkata Knight Riders released pacer Mustafizur Rahman following a directive from the BCCI, which referred to "recent developments all around".
Subsequently, the Bangladesh government banned the broadcast of the IPL, and the BCB formally informed the ICC of its decision of not playing World Cup matches in India.
The ICC meeting comes after Bangladesh sports adviser Asif Nazrul maintained the country's stance of not travelling to India for the tournament next month.
Nazrul speaking to reporters suggested that the country won't bow down to pressure from either BCCI or ICC.
"If the ICC bows to pressure from the Indian Cricket Board and tries to impose pressure on us by setting unreasonable conditions, we will not accept those conditions," Nazrul said.
