ICC to boot Bangladesh out of T20 World Cup if they refuse India travel; BCB given one more day to reconsider

Bangladesh won't be participating in the T20 World Cup after BCB decides not to travel to India for the 20-team competition. Check out full ICC statement.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday gave the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) another 24 hours to take a final call on their participation in the T20 World Cup 2026. On the January 21 deadline, the ICC held a meeting with full member boards, including the BCB and it was then that Bangladesh were informed that its matches won't be moved out of India to Sri Lanka and if they choose not to travel, then they would be booted out of the 20-team tournament and be replaced by another team, most likely Scotland in Group C.

Bangladesh booted out of the T20 World Cup. (AFP)

On Wednesday, the BCB maintained its stance of not travelling to India, and if the call remains the same on January 22, Bangladesh won't be part of the T20 World Cup. According to Cricbuzz, the decision not to change the schedule was taken after a vote by the ICC members. Only two from the 16-member board voted against any changes, while the remaining 14 voted to stick with the original schedule.

Bangladesh are currently placed in Group C alongside England, Nepal, Italy and the West Indies. The squad for the tournament has already been announced. However, on Tuesday, skipper Litton Das sported a dejected look as he revealed that no players in the squad are aware of what will happen to the tournament or whether they will be a part of it.

Bangladesh are currently scheduled to play three matches at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata and one at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Earlier, the BCB was given until January 21 to decide whether they would travel to India for the T20 World Cup matches. However, the BCB refused to budge from its stance, and in the end, the ICC was forced to put its foot down and kick Bangladesh out of the competition, set to be played in India and Sri Lanka from February 7 to March 8.

How did the entire row begin?

The entire row began after Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman was released by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), three-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions, due to strained relations between the two countries. Ever since the left-arm seamer was picked up by KKR for INR 9.20 crore, there has been a lot of furore, as the franchise was criticised for going against national sentiment.

It is worth mentioning that multiple incidents of Hindus being killed in Bangladesh have been reported over the past month, and hence, this led to the public emotion swaying against Bangladesh in India.

After Rahman was shown the door by the IPL, the BCB wrote to the ICC, requesting that the T20 World Cup matches be moved from India to Sri Lanka. There were repeated email exchanges between the two bodies, with no solution in sight, as both BCB and ICC remained adamant in their positions.

While BCB wanted the matches moved out of India, the ICC said there was no security threat in India and that Bangladesh should travel for the tournament. Last weekend, a delegation from ICC visited Dhaka to try to convince BCB to play in India.

However, the BCB did not back down, and the ICC set a deadline of January 21 for Bangladesh to decide on its participation in the T20 World Cup. The apex body was quite categorical in its communication, clearly telling the BCB that Bangladesh would be replaced by the next-best-ranked team if the BCB refused to travel to India.