ICC sets ultimatum for Bangladesh’s T20 World Cup 2026 spot amid participation dispute
The International Cricket Council has given Bangladesh a final deadline to confirm its participation in the T20 World Cup 2026 under the current match schedule or risk being replaced.
Bangladesh Cricket Board wants their T20 World Cup 2026 matches to be shifted away from India after BCCI told KKR to release Mustafizur Rahman from IPL 2026.
Last Updated: 06.44 PM, Jan 21, 2026
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has finally given an ultimatum to Bangladesh regarding their spot in the T20 World Cup 2026. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has been fighting with ICC to change their World Cup venue from India to Sri Lanka after BCCI omitted Mustafizur Rahman from the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026. As per ESPN's report, ICC asked BCB to play their matches in India or they will be replaced by another team.
On Wednesday, ICC held a meeting with Bangladesh and informed them about their decision. ICC even held a voting system where only two members were in favor of Bangladesh while the rest were in favor of removing them from the World Cup 2026. Now, ICC has given BCB a day to decide what they want to do.
ICC has claimed that there are no security concerns in India and that all the teams can travel to the country to play the matches as per the schedule. The ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 will start from February 7 in India and Sri Lanka. All of Bangladesh's games are scheduled in India.
Which team might replace Bangladesh in the T20 World Cup 2026?
For the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, rules suggest that the top seven teams in the previous tournament will be directly qualified for the tournament, including the hosts. While Bangladesh are currently in the ninth position, they might get replaced by Scotland. The teams below Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Ireland, Zimbabwe, and the Netherlands are already a part of the tournament.
Hence, Scotland are at the 14th position and next in line to qualify for the tournament if Bangladesh miss out. They have one day to decide what they want to do as the tournament is nearing. Changing the venue at the last moment was never possible for ICC but they still offered two new venues, Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram. The fans will have to wait for one more day to know about Bangladesh's decision.
Where to watch T20 World Cup 2026 matches?
Cricket fans in India can watch the T20 World Cup 2026 matches from February 7 online on JioHotstar, via OTTplay Premium.