Bangladesh had requested that their matches in the T20 World Cup be shifted to Sri Lanka, citing security concerns in India. However, the ICC rejected the request and has excluded Bangladesh from the World Cup. Scotland now take Bangladesh’s place in the T20 World Cup.

The ICC confirmed the decision in a statement issued on Saturday (24 January).

The ICC said it had found “no credible or verifiable security threat to the Bangladesh national team in India,” despite Mustafizur Rahman being withdrawn from the IPL on security grounds.

According to the ICC, it reviewed the concerns raised by the BCB, commissioned independent security assessments from internal and external experts, and worked through detailed security and operational plans in coordination with federal and state authorities.

The ICC’s assessment concluded that there is no credible or verifiable security threat to the Bangladesh national team, officials or supporters in India. Based on this conclusion, and after carefully considering the broader implications, the ICC decided that it was not appropriate to revise the published event schedule.

The statement further said that following Wednesday’s meeting, the ICC Board had asked the BCB to confirm within 24 hours whether Bangladesh would participate in the tournament as per the scheduled fixtures. As no confirmation was received within the stipulated timeframe, the ICC confirmed Scotland as the replacement team.

Although ranked 14th, Scotland had not originally qualified for the T20 World Cup. However, they are ranked above seven teams that had already qualified for the tournament — Namibia, the United Arab Emirates, Nepal, the United States, Canada, Oman and Italy. The ICC has now given Scotland the opportunity to play in the World Cup in place of Bangladesh.