The decision follows weeks of uncertainty, during which the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) repeatedly said it would not play its scheduled matches in India, citing safety concerns following soured political relations between the neighbours.
Bangladesh had asked the ICC to move their games to the tournament co-hosts Sri Lanka instead, but the governing body rejected the demand.
“Following a meeting on Wednesday, the Bangladesh Cricket Board had been given a 24-hour time frame to confirm whether its team would participate in India as scheduled,” the ICC said in a statement. “As no confirmation was received within the deadline, the ICC proceeded in line with its established governance and qualification processes to identify a replacement team.”
Scotland have replaced Bangladesh in Group C, joining England, Nepal, Italy and West Indies. “Scotland are the next-highest ranked T20I team that had originally missed T20 World Cup qualification. They are currently ranked 14th, which in fact is ahead of competing teams Namibia, the United Arab Emirates, Nepal, the United States, Canada, Oman and Italy,” the ICC added.
Scotland’s national cricket body said they had accepted the ICC’s invitation to compete in their fifth straight T20 World Cup. “This is an exciting opportunity for Scotland’s players,” Cricket Scotland chief executive Trudy Lindblade said in a statement.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The decision is expected to have serious financial implications for the BCB. The board will lose the $500,000 participation fee paid to each team.
More significantly, the BCB receives close to $27 million annually from ICC revenue distributions, accounting for nearly 60% of its annual budget. Additional losses are expected from sponsorships tied to the World Cup.