Former Pakistan red-ball coach Jason Gillespie has raised questions over the International Cricket Council’s decision to replace Bangladesh with Scotland for the T20 World Cup 2026.
The tournament is scheduled to be held from February 7 in India and Sri Lanka.
Posting on X, formerly Twitter, Gillespie asked: “Has there been an explanation from the ICC why Bangladesh could not play their games outside of India?” He also referred to a past decision, saying: “From memory, India refused to play Champions Trophy matches in Pakistan and they were allowed to play those games outside of Pakistan.”
“Can someone make this make sense?!?!,” he added.
Has there been an explanation from the ICC why Bangladesh could not play their games outside of India?
— Jason Gillespie (@dizzy259) January 24, 2026
From memory, India refused to play Champions Trophy matches in Pakistan and they were allowed to play those games outside of Pakistan.
Can someone make this make sense?!?! https://t.co/iyV2ul6O7P
Bangladesh replaced by Scotland in T20 World Cup 2026
The International Cricket Council has officially confirmed that Bangladesh has been replaced by Scotland in the T20 World Cup 2026.
The decision was taken after Bangladesh refused to send its team to India for the event.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the ICC said: “Scotland has been called up to take Bangladesh’s place in Group C, joining England, Italy, Nepal and the West Indies.”
The ICC said the move followed its rejection of the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s request to shift their matches from India to Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka is a co-host of the tournament, which begins on February 7. The ICC stated that there was no “credible or verifiable security threat” to the Bangladesh team in India.
According to the statement, the ICC held discussions with the BCB for more than three weeks. These talks included several rounds of dialogue.
The ICC said it reviewed the concerns raised by the BCB. It also ordered independent security assessments. These were carried out by internal and external experts.
The ICC said its assessments found no “credible or verifiable security threat” to the Bangladesh team, officials, or supporters in India.
Scotland was chosen as it is the highest-ranked T20I team that did not originally qualify for the tournament.
Scotland is currently ranked 14th in T20Is. They are ranked above seven teams already in the competition.
These teams are Namibia, the United Arab Emirates, Nepal, the United States, Canada, Oman, and Italy.
