Which Team Replaces Bangladesh If BCB Pull Out Of 2026 ICC T20 World Cup?

Following the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) confirmation that the Men’s T20 World Cup will proceed as scheduled, Bangladesh Youth and Sports Adviser Asif Nazrul asserted that they did not receive

justice from the ICC and would stand by their decision not to play their matches in India — effectly ‘pulling out’.

“There is no scope to change our decision. We will go back to the ICC with our plan to play in Sri Lanka. They did give us a 24-hour ultimatum, but a global body can’t really do that. ICC will miss out on 200 million people watching the World Cup. It will be their loss,” Nazrul said after a meeting with Bangladesh team cricketers and BCB officials in Dhaka.

“While our cricketers have worked hard to qualify for the World Cup, the security risk regarding playing in India remains unchanged. This concern is not based on abstract analysis,” he added.

Bangladesh T20 World Cup Participation – Live

Bangladesh had informed the ICC that they would not travel to India due to security concerns amid deteriorating relations between the two nations and requested that their matches be relocated to Sri Lanka. However, on Wednesday, the ICC reiterated that the T20 World Cup would proceed as scheduled, with Bangladesh’s matches to be played in India.

The ICC Board noted that it was not feasible to make changes so close to the tournament and that altering the schedule under these circumstances, in the absence of any credible security threat, could set a precedent that would jeopardise the integrity of future ICC events and undermine its neutrality as a global governing body.

Following a meeting on Wednesday, the ICC Board reiterated that changing the schedule so close to the tournament, without a credible security threat, could compromise the integrity of future ICC events and its neutrality as a global governing body.

Who Replaces Bangladesh?

So in the case that Bangladesh end up not playing the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 — the question arises, who replaces them if at all.

As per reports, if Bangladesh decides to pull out of the tournament, it is highly likely that Scotland may replace them based on current rankings.

(With inputs from Agencies)