Newspunjab
24 Jan 2026
Bangladesh has been officially ruled out of the 2026 T20 World Cup. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has confirmed that Scotland will be included in the tournament in place of Bangladesh. The ICC has informed Bangladesh of this decision through a letter.
After Bangladesh’s elimination, the Scottish team will be in the same group as Bangladesh. Now on February 7, the Scottish team will face the West Indies at the historic Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
An email was sent to the Bangladesh Cricket Board chairman yesterday evening informing him that the board had not officially responded to the ICC within the 24-hour time limit given to take a decision on the India tour, leading to this decision. The BCB held a press conference in Dhaka before officially informing the global body, which is also a breach of protocol.
Meanwhile, the ICC has also made it clear that Scotland will be the new team to replace Bangladesh. Bangladesh is in Group C of the ICC T20 World Cup. Now Scotland will take their place in the same group. Also, the schedule of the T20 World Cup will also remain the same. The only difference will be that the matches that Bangladesh was playing will now be played by Scotland. Thus, Scotland will play their four group league matches against West Indies (February 7), Italy (February 9) and England (February 14) in Kolkata, after which there will be a match against Nepal in Mumbai on February 17.
