ICC allows replacement in case Bangladesh refuse India travel: Cricinfo

DUBAI: The International Cricket Council has asked the BCB to inform their government that if they continue to refuse to travel to India for the T20 World Cup, then their team will be replaced by another team at the tournament, according to Cricinfo.

The decision is followed by a vote, where the majority of the ICC Board was in favour of having a replacement, as per the Cricketing website.

“It is understood the ICC has told the BCB to inform the Bangladesh government that if Bangladesh continues to refuse to travel to India to play its matches in the 2026 T20 World Cup, then they will be replaced by another team at the tournament.

The report also stated that the Bangladesh Cricket Board has been given one more day, until Thursday, to decide if they want to change their mind about playing in India.

If the Bangladesh team are still unwilling to play in India, they will most likely be replaced by Scotland, who are the highest-ranked nation that failed to qualify for the World Cup.

Scotland failed to qualify for the T20 World Cup 2026, which will be held in India and Sri Lanka, as they finished below the Netherlands, Italy, and Jersey in the European Qualifiers.

Among the people who were in attendance at the meeting was the PCB chairman, Mohsin Naqvi. And with the Pakistan Cricket Board having publicly offered its support to Bangladesh regarding its demand for a venue, it would not be too much to assume that Naqvi, who is also the Interior Minister of Pakistan, would have voted against the proposal to kick the Bangla Tigers out of the tournament.