Bangladesh out of T20 World Cup, ICC confirms; Scotland named as replacement

DUBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has officially confirmed that Bangladesh will not take part in the T20 World Cup to be held in India and Sri Lanka. As reported earlier, Scotland will replace Bangladesh in the tournament, which begins on February 7. The ICC took the firm decision after Bangladesh stuck to its demand that its matches should be moved out of India, citing security concerns.

Discussions held in Dubai on Sunday under the leadership of ICC Chairman Jay Shah led to the official confirmation. With this, weeks of uncertainty have finally come to an end. The ICC made several attempts to convince Bangladesh to reconsider its stand, but all efforts failed. ICC officials were even sent to Dhaka for talks with the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB). However, Bangladesh remained firm in its position that it could not play matches in India. Following a meeting held on Friday, ICC officials issued a 24-hour ultimatum to Bangladesh to take a final decision. After the deadline expired, the ICC officially confirmed that Bangladesh had been dropped from the World Cup.

Unexpected entry for Scotland
Scotland have gained an unexpected entry into the T20 World Cup, which will also be a major financial boost for the team. Scotland were selected as Bangladesh’s replacement based on rankings and are currently ranked 14th among T20 nations.

Scotland will play in Group C of the preliminary round in place of Bangladesh. The other teams in Group C are West Indies, England, Italy and Nepal. Bangladesh’s scheduled matches were to be held in Kolkata and Mumbai.

Release of Mustafizur
Relations between Indian and Bangladesh cricket deteriorated after IPL side Kolkata Knight Riders dropped Bangladeshi pacer Mustafizur Rahman from their squad. The move came amid criticism from some groups over KKR picking a Bangladeshi player in the mega auction amid reports of attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh.

Soon after this episode, Bangladesh wrote to the ICC requesting that its World Cup matches be shifted from India to Sri Lanka, citing security concerns. This eventually led to the ICC’s decision to exclude Bangladesh from the tournament.