ICC to punish Bangladesh for T20 World Cup boycott?:Jay Shah mulls action, final verdict on Scotland’s inclusion today

The International Cricket Council (ICC) is reportedly set to name Scotland as the official replacement for Bangladesh in the T20 World Cup 2026 today (24 January). Although it has not been made official, the doors for Bangladesh’s participation in the upcoming T20 World Cup have been shut after the country refused to visit India to play. The ICC is also mulling strict action against the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) for refusing to play the T20 World Cup in India. The BCB announced that they would ‘keep fighting’ to play in the T20 World Cup while remaining adamant on their stance of not travelling to India, the host nation for the tournament. The ICC had earlier rejected Bangladesh’s request for relocation of their matches outside India. Scotland could be named as Bangladesh’s T20 World Cup replacement today According to PTI (Press Trust of India), the ICC is set to formally announce Bangladesh’s replacement today for the T20 World Cup. ICC Chairman Jay Shah, the report added, has travelled to Dubai from the U-19 World Cup in Namibia and the announcement is expected soon. Scotland will make it to the T20 World Cup as Bangladesh’s replacement by virtue of being the highest-ranked team among the sides not qualified for the event. ICC reportedly set to take action against Bangladesh for T20 World Cup boycott The ICC is reportedly set to take action against Bangladesh for boycotting the T20 World Cup. Although they have not made it official yet, the BCB and Bangladesh’s interim government have announced that they will not be sending their national team to the T20 World Cup due to security reasons. It also has been learnt that the ICC Board members are angry at Bangladesh for holding a press conference before communicating their decision to the apex body. “The ICC Board Members are extremely angry with Aminul Islam Bulbul as to why before informing the global body, a press conference was held. Asif Nazrul is a persona-non-grata for the ICC, but Bulbul shouldn’t have allowed a press conference before informing their decision to the ICC,” PTI quoted a source. Also read: ICC to replace Bangladesh with Scotland for T20 World Cup: How the Scottish team earned their place despite being ranked 14th? BCB approaches Dispute Resolution Committee but appeal won’t be heard The BCB in a desperate bid to continue their fight for having their T20 World Cup matches shifted outside India, have written to the Dispute Resolution Committee (DRC), appealing against the ICC’s decision. This was confirmed by a BCB source quoted by the abovementioned report. “Yes, BCB has approached the DRC of ICC as it wants to exhaust all its options. If DRC rules against BCB, then the only body that can be approached is the Court of Arbitration of Sports (CAS) in Switzerland,” the source said. However, this effort by the BCB is set to turn futile as the DRC cannot hear any appeal against a decision that has been made by the ICC’s Board of Directors. Bangladesh’s demand for a venue change did not receive much support at the ICC board meeting, with just two votes in their favour as against 14 votes for going ahead with the T20 World Cup schedule as it is. That the DRC cannot hear an appeal against a decision made by the ICC Board of Directors can be understood from the ‘Terms of Reference’ of ICC’s Constitution. “Bangladesh can approach the DRC, but if one looks at the rules, the case can’t even be heard as the committee doesn’t have the remit to hear an appeal which is against the decision made by the Board of Directors,” the report quoted a source on the ICC board. Bangladesh set to lose ₹240 crore for boycotting T20 World Cup Bangladesh, as per another PTI report, will lose around ₹240 crore for boycotting the T20 World Cup 2026. These losses would come in the form of loss of earnings from sponsorships and a dip in broadcast in Bangladesh due to their national team not playing. BCB also will lose out on the T20 World Cup participation fee, which is ₹5 crore. Moreover, Bangladesh’s ICC rankings is also set to be impacted by this.