NEW DELHI: In a major development, the ICC has asked the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) to convey to its government that if it remains adamant about shifting T20 World Cup matches from India to Sri Lanka, Bangladesh will be replaced by another team in the tournament.
The move follows a vote by the ICC Board, with a majority favouring the option of a replacement.
The BCB has been given an additional day to communicate its final position to the ICC regarding participation in the tournament in India.
If Bangladesh maintains its stance, Scotland is the frontrunner to replace them in Group C of the T20 World Cup. Scotland had narrowly missed out on qualification for the 2026 edition, finishing behind the Netherlands, Italy and Jersey at the European qualifiers.
According to the ICC, the Board reviewed multiple security assessments, including independent evaluations, all of which concluded that there was no credible threat to the safety of Bangladesh players, officials, media personnel or fans at any of the tournament venues in India.
The ICC noted that making changes to the schedule at such a late stage was not feasible and that altering fixtures in the absence of a verified security risk could set an undesirable precedent for future global events.
"The ICC Board noted that relocating matches under the present circumstances could jeopardise the sanctity of ICC events and undermine the organisation’s neutrality as a global governing body," the ICC said in a statement.
Bangladesh are slated to play all four of their group-stage matches in India, with the first three scheduled in Kolkata and the remaining one in Mumbai.
The crisis related to Bangladesh began after Kolkata Knight Riders released pacer Mustafizur Rahman following a directive from the BCCI, which referred to "recent developments all around".
Subsequently, the Bangladesh government banned the broadcast of the IPL, and the BCB formally informed the ICC of its decision of not playing World Cup matches in India.
