T20 World Cup row: ICC likely to take ‘strict action’ against Bangladesh

The International Cricket Council (ICC) is likely to take “strict action” against Bangladesh if they withdraw from the T20 World Cup 2026 to be played in India and Sri Lanka from February 7.

According to a report in ANI, citing sources, ICC Chair Jay Shah is contemplating taking action against Bangladesh, who have refused to travel to play in India over security concerns.

Bangladesh’s matches in India

Bangladesh are scheduled to play three matches in Kolkata and one in Mumbai. However, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has refused to send its team due to security reasons after senior pacer Mustafizur Rahaman was removed from the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) squad for IPL 2026 on BCCI's diktat.

Also read: T20 World Cup row: 'Sad day for cricket, loss for Bangladesh players' | Interview

The BCB had requested ICC to shift their matches to Sri Lanka, which was rejected by the ICC and gave them an ultimatum of 24 hours to take a decision. However, the BCB stuck to its stand and again sought ICC to do “justice”. So far, ICC has not issued any statement after Bangladesh’s request on Thursday (January 22).

After a board meeting on Wednesday, ICC said, “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.”

Will Scotland replace Bangladesh?

Reports say ICC is ready to replace Bangladesh with Scotland. A decision is likely to be announced on Saturday (January 24).

On Friday, the BCB wrote to the Dispute Resolution Committee (DRC) of ICC requesting it to overturn the governing body's decision to hold the national men's team's T20 World Cup games in India.

The BCB under Aminul Islam Bulbul has decided to use its last resort – approach the DRC headed by Englishman Michael Beloff (Kings Counsel).