The International Cricket Council (ICC) has firmly rejected the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s (BCB) request to relocate their group-stage matches in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 from India to co-host Sri Lanka. This decision, announced following an ICC Board meeting on January 21, 2026, upholds the original tournament schedule and leaves Bangladesh facing potential exclusion from the event.
In a strong ultimatum, the ICC has given the BCB 24 hours, until January 22, to confirm whether the Bangladesh cricket team will travel to India and participate as scheduled. If the BCB maintains its refusal, Bangladesh will be removed from Group C, which includes England, West Indies, Nepal, and Italy, and replaced by Scotland, the highest-ranked non-qualified team based on current T20I standings. Scotland narrowly missed direct qualification in the European qualifiers.
The decision was taken at an ICC Board meeting on Wednesday, attended by the directors of all Full Members, where the majority of directors voted in favour of replacing Bangladesh if they refuse to play in India. As per reports, only Pakistan out of 15 directors supported Bangladesh. Notably, the Pakistan Cricket Board had written to the ICC supporting Bangladesh’s demand to shift its matches from India.
The development comes from the BCB’s refusal to send their team to India for the four group-stage fixtures scheduled in Kolkata’s Eden Gardens and Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, citing security concerns for players, officials, media, and fans. They claimed these concerns amid heightened political tensions between Bangladesh and India, triggered in part by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) directing Kolkata Knight Riders to release Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman from their IPL 2026 squad.
However, the ICC conducted multiple security assessments, including independent reviews, and concluded there is no credible or verifiable threat to the Bangladesh contingent at any tournament venues in India. ICC said in an official statement, “The decision was taken after considering all security assessments conducted, including independent reviews, all of which indicated there was no threat to Bangladesh players, media persons, officials and fans at any of the tournament venues in India.”
The statement further added, “The ICC Board noted that it was not feasible to make changes so close to the tournament and that altering the schedule under the circumstances, in the absence of any credible security threat, could set a precedent that would jeopardise the sanctity of future ICC events and undermine its neutrality as a global governing body.”
The global cricketing body said that BCB is linking participation to an “isolated and unrelated development” concerning Mustafizur Rahman’s removal from IPL, which has no bearing on the tournament’s security framework.
As the deadline looms, the cricketing world awaits Bangladesh’s final decision, with potential ramifications for bilateral relations and future ICC events in the region. The T20 World Cup 2026 remains set to proceed as planned, co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.
