Scotland will replace Bangladesh at next month’s T20 World Cup, cricket’s governing body confirmed on Saturday, after Bangladesh effectively pulled out of the tournament due to a row over playing matches in India.
“Scotland has been called up to take Bangladesh’s place in Group C, joining England, Italy, Nepal and the West Indies,” the International Cricket Council said.
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The dispute between New Delhi and Dhaka erupted this month when the Indian cricket board ordered the Indian Premier League franchise Kolkata Knight Riders to release Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman.
His removal followed online outrage by right-wing Indian Hindus who invoked alleged attacks on a fellow community in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, though Dhaka maintains that Indian media has exaggerated the violence.
Bangladesh then refused to play their games in India and asked that they be moved to co-host Sri Lanka, but the ICC rejected the appeal, saying there was “no credible or verifiable threat to the safety” of the team.
Their place will now go to Scotland, the next-highest-ranked T20 side, who had originally missed out on qualification.
The tournament begins on February 7.
The incident is the latest example of political tensions bleeding into the game in cricket-mad South Asia, home to about 90 per cent of the sport’s billion-plus fans.
Bangladesh hoped to follow the example of Pakistan, who will play all their matches in Sri Lanka under a deal hatched after India refused to travel to Islamabad for the 2025 Champions Trophy and all their games were moved to Dubai.
Nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan have fought multiple conflicts since they were divided at the end of British rule in 1947 and are bitter rivals on the pitch, refusing to shake hands in their recent matches.
Pakistan’s participation in the tournament is also in doubt after its cricket board chief Mohsin Naqvi described the ICC’s treatment of Bangladesh as “unfair”.
“Whether we play in the T20 World Cup or not, the decision will be taken by the government,” Naqvi told reporters on Saturday.
“The decision by the government will be final and binding and if they say no then they (ICC) may invite any other team.
“One country is dictating and when the ICC changed venues for Pakistan and India … then why it was not done for Bangladesh?”
Bangladesh will hold elections on February 12, midway through the tournament, its first since a mass uprising in 2024 toppled then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina, a close ally of New Delhi.
Political relations with India, where Hasina fled after her ouster, have since soured.
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