NEW DELHI: The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) remained defiant, reiterating that Bangladesh will not play their T20 World Cup matches in India, but said it is "still hopeful of justice from the ICC" following a meeting in Dhaka with the country's cricketers and the government's sports advisor Asif Nazrul.

Bangladesh's refusal paved the way for Scotland to join the tournament after the ICC dismissed the request to shift venues.

"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 ... ICC is calling Sri Lanka co-hosts. They are not co-hosts. It is a hybrid model. Some of the things I heard in the ICC meeting was shocking," BCB president Aminul Islam said in a press conference following the meeting.

"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...," Bangladesh's sports advisor Asif Nazrul said in a press conference while declaring that the country won't play in India.

"...we are not convinced that they can ensure the safety of our entire team, journalists, and spectators.

"We are not giving up hope yet; our team is ready. We expect the ICC to provide justice by considering our genuine security risks and allowing us to play in Sri Lanka," he added.

Bangladesh are due to play four games in India (three in Kolkata and one in Mumbai). The country raised security concerns after pacer Mustafizur Rahman was ousted from the IPL on BCCI's instructions for unspecified "developments all around."

"It is crucial to weigh the loss of not playing against the potential catastrophe of pushing players, fans, and journalists into a risky regional political situation. This is a government decision, as the state is responsible for determining whether its citizens face security risks abroad," Nazrul asserted.

The ICC on Wednesday refused to accept its security concerns, saying that the Bangladesh Cricket Board was repeatedly linking its participation in the tournament to a "single, isolated and unrelated development concerning one of its player's involvement in a domestic league."

"In the absence of any independent security findings that materially compromise the safety of the Bangladesh team, the ICC is unable to relocate fixtures," the ICC had stated.

"Doing so would carry significant logistical and scheduling consequences for other teams and fans worldwide, and would also create far-reaching precedent-related challenges that risk undermining the neutrality, fairness, and integrity of ICC governance," it added.