Bangladesh has decided not to play in the 2026 T20 World Cup. Supporting this, Pakistan can also boycott this global tournament. PCB Chief Mohsin Naqvi indicated this on Saturday. Know here if Pakistan is also out of the World Cup, then which team will ICC give a chance in its place. Let us tell you that in place of Bangladesh, ICC has included Scotland in the 2026 T20 World Cup.

If the government refuses, Pakistan will not play in the T20 World Cup. PCB Chief

PCB Chief Mohsin Naqvi said on Saturday that our government will decide whether the Pakistan team will participate in the 2026 T20 World Cup or not. Speaking to reporters, Mohsin Naqvi said, “The government will decide whether we will play the T20 World Cup or not. Our Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif is currently out of the country. We will take advice from him upon his return. The government’s decision will be final and binding. If the government ‘refuses’ then the ICC can invite any other team.”

If Pakistan does not play in the World Cup, then which country’s team will get a chance in its place??

Let us tell you that if Pakistan also boycotts the 2026 T20 World Cup and refuses to play the tournament, then ICC will include Uganda in this tournament in its place. With Pakistan’s withdrawal, Uganda will be in Group A along with India, Namibia, Netherlands and America. Earlier, Uganda had also played in the 2024 T20 World Cup. However, this team was eliminated in the group stage itself.

Pakistan team will not come to India for the 2026 T20 World Cup. All matches of Pakistan will be held in Sri Lanka. If Pakistan team goes to the semi-finals then its semi-finals will also be held in Sri Lanka. If the Pakistan team enters the final, then the title match of the 2026 T20 World Cup will also be played in Sri Lanka.

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) also knows that the decision to boycott the T20 World Cup 2026 will prove costly for Bangladesh and that is why they have written another letter to the ICC in another attempt to play in the tournament. In a last ditch attempt to shift its matches to Sri Lanka, BCB has sought intervention from the ICC’s Independent Dispute Resolution Committee (DRC).

BCB took this step when Bangladesh flatly refused to play the T20 World Cup in India. Earlier, the board had demanded ICC to shift its matches to Sri Lanka. The ICC had rejected BCB’s demand citing tight security and logistical impact on the tournament. Instead of backing down, the Bangladesh Cricket Board has challenged the decision through the ICC’s legal framework, reports The Times of India.

What is Dispute Resolution Committee?

The ICC’s Dispute Resolution Committee is an independent arbitration body composed of legal experts. It decides on disputes related to ICC decisions, rules and contractual responsibilities. This committee, based in London, does not act like an appeal court, but instead investigates whether the ICC has followed its governance framework while taking decisions. Its decisions are final and binding, with almost no scope for appeal.

Bangladesh is raising the question that ICC has taken its decision without thinking deeply. Although BCB has already said that ICC has not done justice to us. Bangladesh will suffer a loss of around Rs 240 crore due to the boycott of T20 World Cup, but still BCB is adamant on its point. In this they are getting the support of Pakistan, but Pakistan has made it clear that it will play in the tournament.

Bangladesh cricket team has to play its first 3 matches in T20 World Cup 2026 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Bangladesh will play the last match of the group stage at Wankhede, Mumbai. If the DRC does not give its decision in favor of BCB and the team withdraws from the tournament, then Scotland will be included in the team in their place.

The Bangladesh government has made it clear that the Bangladesh cricket team will not play in the 2026 T20 World Cup. He has taken this decision after his demand for shifting the World Cup matches out of India was not met. After this, the discussion has started intensifying that after Bangladesh, Pakistan can also boycott the T20 World Cup. Know what is the truth related to these claims and the real reason behind this discussion.

Before the ICC Board meeting, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had written a letter to the International Cricket Board, in which it officially supported Bangladesh’s decision of not sending its team to India. According to ESPN Cricinfo, only Pakistan supported BCB in the board meeting. More votes were cast for India in the board meeting, hence ICC rejected Bangladesh’s demand for venue change. Neither Bangladesh nor Pakistan had the upper hand in this matter.

Now Bangladesh is going to boycott T20 World Cup 2026. Since Pakistan had openly supported it, it is being claimed that PCB may also decide to boycott the T20 World Cup 2026. Before the statement of Bangladesh government was released, a report came out that if ICC does not give the decision in favor of Bangladesh, then Pakistan can also boycott the World Cup.

Will Pakistan also boycott?

According to a recent report by Telecom Asia Support, a PCB source said that Pakistan cannot boycott the T20 World Cup, because its matches will already be played outside India. Before the Champions Trophy 2025, there was an agreement between BCCI and PCB to hold India-Pakistan matches at neutral venues. Pakistan’s matches in T20 World Cup 2026 will be played in Sri Lanka.

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Bangladesh has announced its decision to boycott the T20 World Cup 2026. BCB was demanding that their matches be shifted to Sri Lanka because their team is not safe in India. Although everyone knows that it was just an excuse, the board is upset after Mustafizur Rahman was dropped from the IPL. The ICC had assured Bangladesh that their team would not face any threat in India, and saying this the ICC had rejected their demand for venue change. But now that Bangladesh has announced its decision to withdraw from the tournament, the question arises that what will happen now or what can happen? Let us tell you.

Bangladesh’s sports advisor Asif Nazrul also held a meeting with his team’s players today, after which the decision to boycott the T20 World Cup was announced. Although Bangladesh has said that they want to play T20 World Cup but not in India, their team will play only if their matches are held in Sri Lanka. Let us tell you that in this matter, it is only Pakistan which is with Bangladesh, but PCB has also made it clear that it will not boycott the tournament. Anyway their matches are already organized in Sri Lanka. Even Pakistan’s semi-finals and final will be held in Sri Lanka.

Can ICC ban Bangladesh cricket?

Bangladesh has boycotted the T20 World Cup but they may also have to suffer huge losses. ICC can impose strict restrictions on Bangladesh cricket. This matter is also serious because Bangladesh had not expressed concern about security earlier, the schedule was released in November last year but only after Mustafizur Rahman’s case, BCB talked about changing the venue. That means he is doing this only out of revenge.

Now the ball is once again in ICC’s court. The ICC has to decide whether to include a new team in the T20 World Cup in place of Bangladesh or give points directly to other teams in the group. Although it is unlikely that ICC will completely ban Bangladesh cricket, but Bangladesh may face many other problems.

Which team will replace Bangladesh?

ICC can include a new team in place of Bangladesh but there will be difficulties in making their hotels, travel related and other arrangements. This time the teams have qualified for the T20 World Cup 2026 by playing their respective regional qualifiers, so choosing a new team will also be a challenge. It is reported that ICC had decided that if Bangladesh decides to withdraw from the tournament, then Scotland will be given a place on the basis of ranking.

Bangladesh is in Group C

T20 World Cup 2026 will be organized from 7 February to 8 March in India and Sri Lanka. Bangladesh is in Group C, which includes England, Italy, Nepal and West Indies. All the matches of Group C are scheduled in India. Bangladesh’s first 3 matches are scheduled for Eden Gardens, Kolkata and the last match is scheduled for Wankhede.

Bangladesh demanded that their matches in the T20 World Cup 2026 be shifted to Sri Lanka, because their team would not be safe in India. The ICC has talked to the BCB on this issue, and has rejected their demand by assuring them of their security. In this regard, ICC has also given an ultimatum to BCB to give its decision soon. Bangladesh Cricket Board said that they will be able to take a final decision after talking to their government. ICC has given him additional time of 24 to 48 hours. Today Asif Nazrul, Sports Advisor to Bangladesh Government, is holding a meeting with his players. Through this, the government wants to know the attitude of the players of its team, so that later no player goes against them.

Only Pakistan was seen in support of Bangladesh, which expressed disagreement with ICC’s decision of not shifting Bangladesh’s matches. However, PCB has made it clear that it will not boycott the T20 World Cup 2026. Let us tell you that all the matches of Pakistan are to be held in Sri Lanka only. He says that Team India’s matches were shifted from Pakistan to Dubai due to these reasons. By the way, Bangladesh has suffered a big setback in the voting on this issue also.

What happened during voting in ICC Board?

The ICC Board meeting was held on Wednesday through video conferencing. All 16 members of the board from the country took part in it. Aminul Islam was from Bangladesh. According to the report of ESPNcricinfo, Islam proposed that his team be replaced with Zimbabwe or Ireland, so that their matches would automatically be shifted to Sri Lanka. ICC rejected it, then voting whether the venue of Bangladesh’s matches should be changed or not? It was only Pakistan along with Bangladesh who supported the venue change. Only 2 out of 16 supported the venue change, after which the ICC gave an ultimatum to Bangladesh to explain its decision.

Asif Nazrul will meet Bangladesh players

Asif Nazrul, Sports Advisor to the Bangladesh Government, will meet the players of his cricket team today (January 22), so that no situation of rebellion arises later. This meeting is to start around 3 pm, which is at Hotel Intercontinental in Dhaka. In this meeting, the government will not only give its decision but will also take the opinion of the players. According to the report, a decision will be taken in this meeting whether the team will go to India for the T20 World Cup or not. This is also special because the captain selected for the T20 World Cup, Liton Das had said that the government or the board has not talked to the players in this matter.

After Mustafizur Rahman was dropped from IPL 2026 by KKR, Bangladesh Cricket Board refused to send its team to India for T20 World Cup 2026. However, now there is one month left for the tournament to start, in such a situation it is difficult to reschedule the tournament. However, ICC has not taken a final decision on this.

Bangladesh has cited security reasons behind this. According to him, his players are in danger in India. This is not the first time that a team has refused to go to any country for an ICC tournament citing security reasons.

West Indies and Australia refused to go to Sri Lanka (1996)

Towards T20 World Cup 2026, India and Sri Lanka had jointly hosted the 1996 World Cup. At that time civil war was going on in Sri Lanka. A few days before the start of the World Cup, a car blast took place in Colombo, which created an atmosphere of fear. The result was that the Australia and West Indies teams refused to go to Sri Lanka, whereas a joint team of India and Pakistan played a friendly match in Colombo. An attempt was made to show that everything was fine, however he still remained adamant on his words. Due to this, points were deducted from West Indies and Australia, Sri Lanka had won the title in this edition.

New Zealand refused to go to Kenya and England to Zimbabwe (2003)

In 2003, the Cricket World Cup was held for the first time in the African continent. Zimbabwe, Kenya and South Africa were the hosts. At that time, the then British Prime Minister Tony Blair refused to accept the power of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe, due to which the England team did not go to Zimbabwe and their points were deducted. New Zealand refused to go to Kenya citing security reasons. Both had demanded ICC to shift their matches, which was not accepted. This season Australia won the title by defeating India in the final.

Zimbabwe withdraws from T20 World Cup (2009)

The 2009 World Cup was held in England, till then relations with the host country Zimbabwe were not good. In 2008 itself, an agreement was reached between Zimbabwe and the ICC that Zimbabwe would get the money without playing. Scotland took part in that tournament in their place.

Australia decided to withdraw from the World Cup (2016)

Bangladesh hosted the Under-19 World Cup in 2016, in which Australia decided to withdraw citing security reasons. Ireland’s team again played in the tournament instead of Australia.

India refuses to go to Pakistan (2025)

After 29 years, in 2025, Pakistan hosted any ICC tournament, Champions Trophy 2025 was organized in Pakistan. Although India refused to go to Pakistan due to security reasons, then it was played in hybrid model. India played its matches in Dubai, the final was also played in Dubai. Where India became champion under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma.

Some people had criticized Kolkata Knight Riders and team owner Shahrukh Khan in protest against the atrocities on Hindus in Bangladesh. The team was being opposed because they had bought Bangladeshi player Mustafizur Rahman for IPL 2026. On the instructions of BCCI, KKR released Mustafizur, after which this controversy is increasing further. Now news is coming that a Meerut based cricket equipment company may end its contract with Bangladeshi players.

After the release of Mustafizur Rahman, Bangladesh Cricket Board called an emergency meeting, in which it was decided that he will not go to India for T20 World Cup 2026. BCB requested ICC to shift its matches from India to Sri Lanka, citing security reasons behind this. Not only this, the Bangladesh government banned the telecast of the Indian Premier League. However, when former Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal said that Bangladesh should not take any decision in haste, the BCB director made fun of him by calling him an ‘Indian agent’.

Big shock to Bangladesh players

If reports are to be believed, Meerut-based cricket equipment company sponsors many players of Bangladesh, but now it is planning to end its contract with them. According to the report, Liton Das also plays with the bat of the same company. Liton Das is the captain of Bangladesh in the upcoming T20 World Cup 2026. Yasir Rabbi and Mominul Haq also use equipment from the same company.

in Kolkata 3 matches of Bangladesh

Bangladesh team is included in Group ‘C’ in T20 World Cup 2026, along with it are England, Italy, Nepal and West Indies. T20 World Cup will start from 7th February, Bangladesh will face West Indies on the first day. Bangladesh’s second match is with Italy on 9 February and the third match is with England on 14 February. Bangladesh’s first three matches are scheduled for Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata. The team will go to Mumbai for its fourth match against Nepal on 17 February.

Bangladesh squad for T20 World Cup 2026

Liton Das (captain), Tanjeed Hasan, Saif Hasan, Tauheed Hridayoy, Parvez Hussain Emon, Shamim Hussain, Shak Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hussain, Kazi Nurul Hasan Sohan, Nasum Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Shaif Uddin, Shoriful Islam, Tanzeem Hasan Saqib, Taskin Ahmed.

Bangladesh Cricket Board had demanded that their matches in the T20 World Cup 2026 be shifted from India to Sri Lanka, which has been rejected by the ICC. The final decision on this will be taken on January 10. BCB is taking a tough stance after the release of Mustafizur Rahman by KKR. Now after the ICC rejected the demand, there is a possibility that Bangladesh will withdraw from the T20 World Cup.

Relations between India and Bangladesh have not been good for quite some time. The murder of two Hindu youths in Bangladesh further increased this, which led to protests in India. More incidents of atrocities against minorities came to light in the neighboring country. After this, KKR and team owner Shahrukh Khan started being criticized in India because they had bought Bangladeshi player Mustafizur Rahman for Rs 9.20 crore.

Seeing the growing protest, BCCI directed KKR to release Mustafizur Rahman. Giving this information in its statement, KKR said that it will announce the replacement in the coming days. However, Bangladesh also took several steps in protest.

Bangladesh government banned the telecast of IPL. Making a demand to ICC, Bangladesh Cricket Board said that their matches should be shifted from India to Sri Lanka. Let us tell you that T20 World Cup 2026 will be organized in India and Sri Lanka, but all the matches of Bangladesh are to be held in India.

Bangladesh will play all group stage matches in India

Although a final decision is yet to be taken on BCB’s demand, it is clear that ICC will definitely refuse to reschedule the tournament. Bangladesh has to play 3 matches of its group stage in Kolkata and 1 match in Mumbai.

What will happen if Bangladesh withdraws from T20 World Cup?

If Bangladesh decides to withdraw from the T20 World Cup 2026, then some other team can be included in its place. The same thing happened in the 2016 Under-19 World Cup, when Australia refused to go to Bangladesh. Then Ireland played in the tournament instead of Australia. However, Bangladesh has not taken any such decision yet. But the Bangladesh team for the T20 World Cup was announced only after KKR released Mustafizur Rahman, so its possibility is less. But the way BCB is showing its attitude, it is not impossible.

Bangladesh cricket team will have to play its T20 World Cup 2026 matches in India only. Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had demanded that their matches be shifted from India to Sri Lanka, which has been rejected by the ICC. Although the final decision on this will be taken by January 10, it is clear that there will be no change in the schedule.

The complete schedule of T20 World Cup 2026 was released in November last year. All matches will be played in 5 cities of India (Ahmedabad, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai) and 2 cities of Sri Lanka (Colombo and Kandy). Pakistan will play all its matches in Sri Lanka, while all the group matches of Group B will also be played in Sri Lanka. Bangladesh cricket team is included in Group C, in which they are accompanied by England, West Indies, Nepal and Italy.

All four matches of Bangladesh will be held in 2 cities in India.

Each team has to play 4-4 matches in the group stage. Bangladesh’s first match is with West Indies on 7 February. This match will be held at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Bangladesh has to play the first 3 matches at this venue. The team will go to Mumbai for its fourth and last match of the group stage. Bangladesh’s match with Nepal in Wankhede will be held on 17th February.

• 7 February: Bangladesh vs West Indies (Eden Gardens, Kolkata)
• 9 February: Bangladesh vs Italy (Eden Gardens, Kolkata)
• 14 February: Bangladesh vs England (Eden Gardens, Kolkata)
• 17 February: Bangladesh vs Nepal (Wankhede, Mumbai)

Difficult to shift Bangladesh matches to Sri Lanka

Now one month is left for the start of T20 World Cup 2026. This time 20 teams will play in the tournament, all the matches have been decided at a total of 8 venues. If Bangladesh’s matches are shifted to Sri Lanka then other teams will also face problems. Now the booking of hotels etc. of the teams has also been done. Broadcast and other teams have also made preparations, so it is impossible to change the schedule so quickly. The ICC has rejected BCB’s demand, on which a final decision is yet to be taken.

Bangladesh team has been announced for T20 World Cup 2026, Liton Das has been elected captain and Mohammad Saif Hasan has been elected vice-captain. Bangladesh team is included in Group C of the World Cup. 3 out of 4 matches of the team’s group stage will be held at Eden Gardens in Kolkata and 1 match will be played at Wankhede in Mumbai.

Tanjeed Hasan, Mohammad Parvez Hussain, Tauheed Hridoy are included in the team. It is not that Liton Das will captain this team for the first time, he was the captain in the last match also. Liton Das has captained in 29 T20 International matches, out of which Bangladesh has won 15 matches and lost 13. 1 match was inconclusive. But considering the current situation, this is big news because recently there were many reports of atrocities on Hindus in Bangladesh.

bangladesh t20 world cup 2026 squad

Liton Das (captain), Mohammad Saif Hasan (vice-captain), Tanjeed Hasan, Mohammad Parvez Hossain Imon, Tauheed Hridoy, Shamim Hossain, Kazi Nurul Hasan Sohan, Shaq Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Nasum Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Tanzeem Hasan Saqib, Taskin Ahmed, Mohammad Shaifuddin and Shoriful Islam.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has announced the national squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, to be jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka from 7 February to 8 March.

SQUAD
Litton Kumer Das (Captain), Mohammed Saif Hassan (Vice Captain), Tanzid Hasan, Mohammad Parvez… pic.twitter.com/A9o7EtB99v

— Bangladesh Cricket (@BCBtigers) January 4, 2026

BCB had called an emergency meeting

On Saturday, Bangladesh Cricket Board had called an emergency meeting, in which the stance of T20 World Cup 2026 was considered. According to the report, BCB wants their matches to be shifted from India to Sri Lanka. Actually, on the instructions of BCCI, KKR released Bangladeshi player Mustafizur Rahman, against which BCB wants so. However, BCCI has made it clear that hotels etc. of other teams have been booked and now it is very difficult to make changes in the schedule.