Who Will Replace Bangladesh in T20 World Cup 2026 If They Do Not Play?

The situation between Bangladesh and the International Cricket Council (ICC) is heating up with each day passing by. In the latest turn of events, there are chances that Bangladesh cricket team might not feature in the ICC T20 World Cup 2026, which will run from February 7 to March 8 in India and Sri Lanka.

The political tensions between India and Bangladesh have taken their toll on the cricket as well and the T20 World Cup 2026 has become a hot soup of controversy. All of this started after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) instructed Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to release Mustafizur Rahman from the squad.

This didn’t go well with the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) as they called up emergency meetings to discuss the cricketing ties with India. This propelled the BCB to request that the ICC shift their T20 World Cup 2026 games from India to Sri Lanka, where Pakistan will be playing as well.

But the ICC didn’t pay any heed to their demand and the BCB then came up with another suggestion. They urged ICC to swap their games with Ireland during its meeting on Saturday. As per their request, Bangladesh would have moved to Group B and Ireland to Group C.

Who will Replace Bangladesh in T20 World Cup 2026?

Amidst all the tensions, a report in ESPNCricinfo suggested that the ICC has given the ultimatum that if they want to play then they should or else the governing body will look for their replacement. And, for that, Scotland has emerged as the front-runner.

Scotland failed to qualify for the T20 World Cup 2026 by the barest of margins. As a result, they missed a great chance to play the best T20 teams in the world. However, now they will have a great opportunity to make their presence felt at the showpiece event in India and Sri Lanka.

The ball is now in Bangladesh’s court if they want to play or forfeit the tournament. The agreement between ICC and BCB is yet to be reached despite multiple meetings. With ICC giving the ultimatum, the final decision in this regard is likely to be made soon.

Bangladesh Schedule in T20 World Cup 2026

As per the original schedule, Bangladesh are set to play their games in Kolkata and Mumbai in the ICC T20 World Cup 2026. They are scheduled to open their campaign against the West Indies on February 7 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, the oldest cricket stadium in India. They will play one more game on the same ground.

For their third and fourth game, Bangladesh will move to Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium. In the meeting, they also raised security issues for playing in India, but ICC assured that their team will be safe in India despite the tensions between the two nations.