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NEW DELHI: Bangladesh on Thursday dug in its heels, refusing to send its national team to India for next month's T20 World Cup despite the ICC rejecting its request for a change of venue - a stance that has effectively opened the door for Scotland to replace them in the tournament. The ICC had issued an ultimatum on Wednesday, asking Bangladesh to confirm its participation in India or face exclusion, stating there was no credible security threat to players, officials or supporters. The board was given a 24-hour window to convey its final decision. Scotland, next in line based on tournament rankings, stands to benefit if Bangladesh is formally dropped from the competition scheduled to begin on February 7. Pakistan threatens T20 World Cup boycott after ICC rejects Bangladesh request Taking a firm position, Bangladesh's sports advisor Asif Nazrul said after a meeting with national team players that the ICC's assessment was unacceptable, reiterating the country's refusal to play its matches in India. Cricket Scotland refuses to comment It is still not clear whether ICC has intimated Cricket Scotland as their CEO Trudy Lindblade didn't offer any comments. "We cannot comment on this developing situation. If the circumstances change, we will issue an official media release on our website," Charles Paterson, head of communications of Cricket Scotland responded to a query from PTI. "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...," 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. Bangladesh hopeful of justice from ICC "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. No security threat 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. "Players understand" Nazrul was asked if the players, who have repeatedly pleaded for an amicable solution that takes into account their welfare, have been brought on board for a boycott of the premier tournament. "We met with the players to explain the context and the government's reasoning behind this decision. As this was a privileged communication, the specifics of what the players said will not be disclosed to allow them to speak freely, but they seemed to understand the situation," Nazrul responded. "Bangladesh is a populous, cricket-loving nation with nearly 200 million fans. If the ICC fails to accommodate us, it will be a significant loss for world cricket and a failure for the host country," he said. Former captain Tamim Iqbal, and current Test captain Najmul Hossain Shanto were among the prominent players' voices who demanded that the welfare of the cricketers be made the priority by administrators in both the BCB and the government. Iqbal was even called "an agent of India" by a senior functionary of the BCB for suggesting that Bangladesh avoid a hard-line approach. Players stand to lose massively in remuneration given the current situation and BCB director Nazmul Islam had caused an uproar by saying that they would not be compensated as they have failed to produce any significant results in ICC events. Islam was forced to resign as head of BCB's finance committee as a result of the players' outrage. (With PTI Inputs)
ICC T20 World Cup Teams
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ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026
ICC T20 World Cup : Winners, Records & Stats (2007–2026)
ICC T20 World Cup is one of the most exciting T20 tournaments of cricket, taking place after every 2 years. T20 cricket has been gaining global popularity with the T20 leagues happening all around the globe. The blistering stroke making of the batsmen, fiery spells by the bowlers and eye-catching field efforts attracted the fan with more craze than the other formats of the game. T20 WC started back in 2007 and continued to happen in 2009, 2010 and then each 2 years gap with the last tournament was in 2024. India was the champion of the last edition in 2024, with England and Australia being the champions in the previous two seasons. Stay on this page to get the details on the t20 world cup live score and exciting stats.
Teams in ICC T20 World Cup
In total 20 countries are competing in the ICC T20 WC 2026, India and Sri Lanka being the host country. The same no of teams participated in the last edition of the tournament whereas the common teams are Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, England, India, Ireland, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Oman, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, USA. With the full members of ICC, many associated countries like Nepal, Oman, UAE, Namibia, USA and Canada are also participating in the competition. Papua New Guinea, Scotland, and Uganda are the new teams who participated in 2024 T20 WC and in this edition the new teams are UAE and Italy. The shortest format of the game is spreading world cricket in all corners of the world, where alongside Asian countries, teams from Europe, America are also participating gradually in this mega event.
The Winners and Champions of T20 WC
Team India under the leadership of MS Dhoni won the very first season of the T20 WC 2007, which was hosted in South Africa. Pakistan, the arch rival of India won the next tournament in 2009 by defeating Sri Lanka in the final with a huge margin of 8 wickets under Younis Khan’s Captaincy. Over the years, England, West Indies and India won the tournament twice while the champion team Australia and Sri Lanka won 1 time each. The champion side of ICC events, team australia haven’t been that much successful in this competition while winning it just once in 2021. The power hitting of West Indies and their disciplined bowling made them champion in 2012 and 2016 editions of the tournament. New Zealand hasn’t tasted success yet in this competition, was the runners up in the 2021 T20 WC and reached semifinal twice in the semifinal in 2016 and 2022.
T20 World Cup Points Table
Like the previous year, this year also the 20 participating teams have been divided in 4 groups with each group containing 5 teams. Just like the previous year, India and Pakistan are placed in the same place in Group A while the other teams of this group are Namibia, Netherlands and USA. Australia and Sri Lanka are in Group B, with Oman, Ireland and Zimbabwe are the other teams. In each group along with 2 full time nations 3 associated nations are placed to maintain the competition very balanced. Each team in the group stage will get a total of 4 matches and the top two teams in each group in the ICC T20 World Cup points table, from will play the Super 8 and then subsequently the top 4 will play the semi final and the final as follows.
T20 World Cup Schedule
The ICC T20 world cup schedule has been announced by ICC, where the tournament will start from 7th February 2026 with the first match between Pakistan and Netherlands. In total 55 matches will be played in this tournament with 40 matches in the group stage, 12 super 8 matches, 2 semi finals and the final encounter on 8th March 2026. In the group stage and in the quarter finals of the ICC world cup schedule, 3 matches will be played in a single day at 11 am, 3pm and 7pm respectively. While the quarter finals are scheduled in the afternoon time at 3 pm and & 7 pm and the final is at 7pm on 8th March 2026.
T20 World Cup Stats & Records
Fans always love to check the stats and records of any tournaments, mainly the ICC global events. The t20 world cup stats table also consists of the leading run getter, wicket taker of the tournament along with the top century makers, and the other bowling and fielding records. Here in this section we will discuss the iconic milestones, stats and records of the tournament.
Most Runs in ICC Men's t20 WC
The run machine, Virat Kohli is at the top of the most runs in t20 world cup tally with 1292 runs in 35 matches. Rohit Sharma is next in the list with 1220 runs in 47 innings followed by Mahela Jayawardene with 1016 runs and Jos Buttler with 1013 runs respectively. Jos Buttler has the highest strike rate of 147.23 in the t20 world cup stats tally with Kohli has the highest average of 58.72.
Most Wickets in ICC Men's t20 WC
Bangladeshi All rounder Shakib al hasan is in the top of the most wickets in t20 world cup table with 50 wickets in 43 matches. Shahid Afridi from Pakistan is the second name in this tally with 39 wickets at the average of 23.25 and an impressive strike of 20.16. Lasith Malinga took 38 wickets in 31 matches with an elegant strike rate of 16.21 placed at the 3rd position, followed by another srilankan spinner Wanindu Hasaranga with 37 T20 WC scalps to his name.
Most Hundreds in ICC Men's t20 WC
There’s been 11 instances when a batsman crossed the 100 runs mark in the T20 WC history. Explosive southpaw Chris Gayle is the first man to achieve this feat at the ICC 2007 T20 WC while another talented leftie Suresh Raina from India scored hundred in 2009 T20 WC. Brendon McCullum, Mahela Jayawardene, Alex Hales, Ahmed Shehzad are the other names in the most hundreds in the t20 world cup list.
Most Fifties in ICC Men's t20 WC
Run machine Virat Kohli holds the record of most fifties in t20 world cup with 15 half centuries on his name. His fellow partner the explosive opener Rohit Sharma is in the second place in the list with 12 fifties in 47 matches in his world cup career. Chris Gayle scored 9 fifties in t20 wc in 33 matches is in the 3rd place in the list. Dashing Aussie opener David Warner, Mahela Jayawardene, Jos Buttler and Tillakaratne Dilshan are the other names in this list.
Highest Individual Score in ICC Men's t20 WC
Explosive kiwi opener Brendon McCullum holds the record of highest individual score in the t20 world cup with a score of 123 runs in 72 balls. The second name in the list is Chris Gayle with 117 runs in 2007 T20 WC with an explosive strike rate of 205. Alex Hales is the 3rd name in this list with 116 runs, followed by Ahmed Shehzad, Rilee Rossouw, Glenn Phillips and Tamim Iqbal.
Most Sixes in ICC Men's t20 WC
Chris Gayle again in the top of the most sixes in the t20 world cup list with 63 sixes followed by Rohit Sharma with 50 sixes and Jos Buttler with 43 sixes. David Warner, Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh are the other names in the tally.
Most Catches in ICC Men's t20 WC
David Warner is at the top position of most catches in t20 world cup with 25 catches altogether in 41 matches in his career. AB de Villiers and Glenn Maxwell are the next names in the list with 23 catches, followed by Rohit Sharma and Martin Guptill.
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