If Bangladesh does not travel to India, the ICC will replace them in the T20 World Cup.

The ICC has given the BCB one additional day to consult with the Bangladesh government over whether their side would travel to India for the 2026 T20 World Cup. If Bangladesh continues to refuse to participate in India due to security concerns, the ICC Board has opted to replace them with Scotland, based on team rankings, in the event.

The decision was made at an ICC Board meeting on Wednesday, with the majority of directors voting in favor of a replacement if Bangladesh would not bend. According to reports, only Pakistan supported the BCB out of the 15 directors present. The meeting was arranged after the PCB informed the ICC and other boards on Tuesday that it supported the BCB’s position.

The directors of all Full Members attended the board meeting. The participants included BCB president Aminul Islam, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia, SLC president Shammi Silva, PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi, CA chairman Mike Baird, Zimbabwe Cricket president Tavenga Mukuhlani, CWI president Kishore Shallow, Cricket Ireland chair Brian MacNeice, Cricket New Zealand representative Roger Twose, ECB chair Richard Thompson, CSA representative Mohammed Moosajee, and Cricket Afghanistan chairman Mirwais Ashraf.

Two Associate Member directors, Mubashshir Usmani and Mahinda Vallipuram, ICC CEO Sanjog Gupta, ICC deputy chairman Imran Khawaja, and ICC general manager Gaurav Saxena were also present. ICC ACU head Andrew Ephgrave, who was in Dhaka last week to speak with BCB in person to alleviate security concerns, also attended the meeting.

“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,” according to a statement issued after the board proceedings.

“The ICC Board noted that it was not feasible to make changes so close to the tournament and that changing the schedule under the circumstances, in the absence of any credible security threat, could set a precedent that would jeopardize the sanctity of future ICC events and undermine its neutrality as a global governing body.”

“The ICC management also engaged in a series of correspondences and meetings with the BCB in a bid to resolve the impasse, sharing detailed information on the event security plan, including layered federal and state law-enforcement support.”

The ICC’s decision comes after weeks of uncertainty surrounding Bangladesh’s participation in the T20 World Cup, after the BCB, in collaboration with the Bangladesh government, informed the ICC on January 4 that they would not be sending their side to India owing to security concerns. They requested to play their games in Sri Lanka, the event’s co-host. That move came in response to the BCCI’s directive to the Kolkata Knight Riders to release Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman from their IPL 2026 squad, albeit no particular explanation was provided.

Since then, the BCB and the Bangladesh government have stated that Bangladesh will not travel to India and would prefer to play in Sri Lanka instead. During talks with the ICC last week, the BCB also proposed that Bangladesh’s group be swapped with that of Ireland, which is playing all of its group matches in Sri Lanka. The ICC denied the request.

“Over the past several weeks, the ICC has engaged with the BCB in sustained and constructive dialogue, with the clear objective of enabling Bangladesh’s participation in the tournament,” according to the International Cricket Council. “During this time, the ICC has provided detailed inputs, including independent security assessments, comprehensive venue-level security plans, and formal assurances from host authorities, all of which have consistently concluded that there is no credible or verifiable threat to the Bangladesh team’s safety or security in India.

“Despite these efforts, the BCB maintained its position, repeatedly linking its participation in the tournament to a single, isolated, and unrelated development involving one of its players’ participation in a domestic league.” This link has no influence on the tournament’s security structure or the terms and conditions of participation in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.

“The ICC’s site and scheduling decisions are informed by objective threat assessments, host guarantees, and the tournament’s agreed-upon terms of participation, which apply equally to all 20 competing nations. In the absence of any independent security findings that jeopardize the Bangladesh team’s safety, the ICC is unable to rearrange fixtures. Doing so would have substantial logistical and scheduling implications for other teams and spectators throughout the world, as well as cause far-reaching precedent-related difficulties that risk damaging the ICC’s neutrality, fairness, and integrity.”

Bangladesh is in Group C at the T20 World Cup, with the first three games planned for Kolkata on February 7, 9, and 14, and the final in Mumbai on February 17.