Top News

New Delhi: Bangladesh cricket is staring into an abyss after the country’s cricket board’s politically motivated decision not to send the national team to India for the T20 World Cup 2026.

Despite the International Cricket Council’s 24-hour deadline to agree to participate in the marquee event in India, Bangladesh remained firm on their stance of not flying to India to play their league matches, citing security concerns. While the board and government officials confirmed their decision in a post-meeting press meet with journalists in Dhaka on Thursday, no official communication about the same was made to the ICC.

With the deadline over, the only possible outcome to the ongoing impasse, it seems, will be Bangladesh being replaced by another country. As per a report in Cricbuzz, the ICC, following BCB’s firm stance on boycotting World Cup matches in India, a decision which is yet to be formally communicated to the world body, is expected to invite Scotland, the most likely candidate to replace Bangladesh.

After waiting for Bangladesh’s response over the past 24 hours, ICC is likely to take a swift decision to formalise Scotland’s participation in the T20 World Cup.

Had Bangladesh agreed to participate after the ICC board voted to go ahead with the original schedule, rejecting Bangladesh’s venue change requests, the impasse would have ended by now.

However, Bangladesh’s s stubborn stance, which is born out of an imaginary threat to their team, despite ICC clearly stating that there are no independent security findings that materially compromise the safety of the Bangladesh team, has put their cricket and the players in jeopardy.

A separate report in Cricbuzz stated that the Bangladesh government and cricket board didn’t feel the need to consult the players during the meeting on Thursday, with several cricketers revealing they were told about the decision already taken, rather than consulted on one still in play.

“The meeting was called not to give our consent as it was made out to be initially. Rather, we were called so that we are aware of the development in the ongoing crisis. They made up their mind and decided what they will do before coming into the meeting, and it’s not like any decision was taken taking our views into consideration,” a cricketer told Cricbuzz on condition of anonymity.

“They didn’t ask. They made the plan directly and said it’s not happening. Earlier, they would sit with us and hear us out. But now, they’ve already said we’re not going,” he added.

It is understood that players, including Bangladesh captain Litton Das and senior batter Nazmul Shanto, expressed their willingness to play in the T20 World Cup, but their opinions had no weight in the room filled with politicians, who took the decision based on a state policy and an imaginary threat and ignored the cricket logic.

“Cricket is finished. If we don’t go, it will be our cricket team’s loss. Who cares?” said another cricketer on condition of anonymity.

Bangladesh, who are scheduled to play their group-stage matches in India, with the opening three games slated to be held in Kolkata and the remaining one in Mumbai, were categorically told by the ICC after a board meeting on Wednesday that they will be replaced with another team if they don’t send their cricket team to India.

The BCB-ICC bitter saga began early January when Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) dropped pacer Mustafizur Rahman from the IPL 2026 squad after a directive from the BCCI, which referred to “recent developments all around”. The decision, it is believed, was taken in the backdrop of political unrest in Bangladesh, where brutal killings of minorities, mainly Hindus, have become almost an everyday occurrence.

In response, the Bangladesh government banned the broadcast of the IPL in the country and subsequently told ICC about their decision not to send the national cricket team to India for the T20 World Cup 2026.

Despite no direct connection, the Bangladesh government astonishingly linked the Mustafizur-IPL issue to the team’s security issue at the World Cup in India and asked the world cricket body to shift the venue to Sri Lanka. However, the ICC rejected the request and, after an independent review across all the venues, told BCB that there is no security threat to the Bangladesh cricket team in India.