4 Instances When Teams Have Boycotted World Cup Games, Will Bangladesh Join The List?

The International Cricket Council (ICC), as per an ESPN Cricinfo report, has rejected the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s (BCB) request to move Bangladesh’s T20 World Cup 2026 matches outside India. According

to the available information, the ICC has informed BCB to either play their Group C matches as scheduled in India or forfeit points, and now the ball is in Bangladesh’s court. They have two options — travel to India and play matches as scheduled earlier or pull out of the tournament.

Bangladesh, as per the original schedule of the T20 World Cup 2026 released by BCCI last month, will play their first three Group C matches against the West Indies, UAE and England in Kolkata on February 7, 9 and 14, respectively, and then travel to Mumbai to take on Nepal at Wankhede Stadium on February 17.

If they refuse to travel to India for the T20 World Cup 2026 and forfeit their matches, then their opponents will be awarded two points each.

If Bangladesh boycott the T20 World Cup 2026, then it should not be a surprise for anyone because in the past as well, on multiple occasions, teams have boycotted matches in ICC events.

Here’s a look at four previous occasions when teams have boycotted games at the World Cup.

1996 World Cup – Sri Lanka vs Australia

A truck containing about 440 pounds of high explosives crashed through the main gate of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, located in the capital city of Colombo on January 31, 1996 – three weeks before the World Cup. The terrorist attack by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) left over 1000 people affected. Rattled by the incident, Australia refused to travel to Sri Lanka, where four of the group games were scheduled, giving the home team a walkover.

1996 World Cup – Sri Lanka vs West Indies

The West Indies too backed out because of the same reason, despite Sri Lanka offering maximum security to the teams and the ICC determining the country safe to travel.  Both West Indies and Australia, though, were slapped with hefty fines.

2003 World Cup – Zimbabwe vs England

Zimbabwe, under Robert Mugabe’s regime, was facing heavy political unrest, and in such a scenario, then British Prime Minister Tony Blair ordered England to not travel to Zimbabwe. He, however, requested the ICC to consider altering the venue, which was denied.

Zimbabwe were awarded a walkover and four points. However, unlike Australia and the West Indies in the previous edition, the result had a huge bearing on England’s fate.

Both England and Zimbabwe finished with three wins each, and a washout in Zimbabwe’s final game against Pakistan meant they qualified for the next round alongside Australia and India.

2003 World Cup – Kenya vs New Zealand

New Zealand were apprehensive about travelling to Kenya owing to the security concerns. After multiple meetings with top officials, the New Zealand Cricket Board decided to not send their team to Kenya.