Bangladesh "Overplayed Its Hand" in T20 World Cup Boycott, Says Ex-BCB Official

With ICC replacing Bangladesh's team with Scotland, Haque said it is standard procedure that when a country decides not to participate, the ICC naturally replaces it with another team.

Haque told ANI over the phone that it was not right for Bangladesh to withdraw from the T20 World Cup "just because a Bangladeshi player was not allowed to play in the IPL in India".

He argued that the IPL is a domestic tournament with different security standards compared to the World Cup, which has much higher security levels.

Haque said that Bangladesh not going for the tournament was a mistake and it undermines the hard work put into Bangladeshi cricket.

"Bangladesh has overplayed its hand in this matter by choosing not to participate in the ICC T20 World Cup," he said.

Regarding the Bangladesh government's demand to transfer the team's matches to Sri Lanka, he said that the ICC World Cup is planned well in advance, and it's not possible to suddenly shift it at the last minute. "Therefore, it couldn't be transferred to Sri Lanka," he said.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Saturday announced that Scotland will replace Bangladesh in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 after the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) refused to participate in the tournament per the published match schedule.

The announcement came after the ICC, in the absence of any credible or verifiable security threat to the Bangladesh national team in India, rejected the BCB's demand to move its matches from India to Sri Lanka, in the 20-team tournament to be played from February 7 to March 8.

Following its meeting on Wednesday, the ICC Business Corporation (IBC) Board requested the BCB to confirm, within a 24-hour timeframe, whether Bangladesh would participate in the tournament as scheduled. As no confirmation was received within the stipulated deadline, the ICC proceeded in line with its established governance and qualification processes to identify a replacement team, a release said.

The decision follows an extensive process undertaken by the ICC to address concerns raised by the BCB regarding the hosting of its scheduled matches in India, the release said.

"Over a period of more than three weeks, the ICC engaged with the BCB through multiple rounds of dialogue conducted in a transparent and constructive manner, including meetings held both via video conference and in-person," it said.

As part of this process, the ICC reviewed the concerns cited by the BCB, commissioned and considered independent security assessments from internal and external experts, and shared detailed security and operational plans covering federal and state arrangements, as well as enhanced and escalating security protocols for the event. These assurances were reiterated at several stages, including during discussions involving the ICC Business Corporation (IBC) Board.

"The ICC's assessments concluded that there was no credible or verifiable security threat to the Bangladesh national team, officials or supporters in India," the release said.

In light of these findings, and after careful consideration of the broader implications, the ICC determined that it was not appropriate to amend the published event schedule.

"The ICC also noted the importance of preserving the integrity and sanctity of the tournament schedule, safeguarding the interests of all participating teams and fans, and avoiding the establishment of precedents that could undermine the neutrality and fairness of ICC events," the release said.

Scotland are the highest-ranked T20I side not to originally qualify for the tournament. They are currently ranked 14th, ahead of seven teams already in the tournament. Namibia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Nepal, the United States of America (USA), Canada, Oman and Italy.

- ANI