Bangladesh T20 World Cup Row Highlights: Bangladesh's New Demand Likely To Be Rejected

"The meeting was called not to give our consent as it was made out to be initially. Rather, we were called so that we are aware of the development in the ongoing crisis. They made up their mind and decided what they will do before coming into the meeting, and it's not like any decision was taken taking our views into consideration," said a Bangladesh cricketer to Cricbuzz, on condition of anonymity.

"They didn't ask. They made the plan directly and said it's not happening. Earlier, they would sit with us and hear us out. But now, they've already said we're not going," he said. "The thing is, Bangladesh's government call was already made and nothing else but that's the real story. It was a direct order from the government - it's not happening," the player added.

Bangladesh's sports adviser Asif Nazrul stated that the players of the Bangladesh cricket team "seemed to understand the situation", following the BCB's decision to persist in its stance of refusing to play the T20 World Cup in India.

"We met with the players to explain the context and the government's reasoning behind this decision. As this was a privileged communication, the specifics of what the players said will not be disclosed to allow them to speak freely, but they seemed to understand the situation," he said.

"We cannot comment on this developing situation. If the circumstances change, we will issue an official media release on our website," said Charles Paterson, head of communications of Cricket Scotland, to PTI on Thursday.

This is a marked change from their stance from a week ago, when they had stated that they had not been approached by the ICC, but would be 'ready' if they were to be.

Bangladesh have not communicated an official decision to the ICC, despite being given a 24-hour deadline to do so, according to a report by Cricbuzz. The report further says that internal discussions between government authorities and player representatives likely took place, but no official response was made by the BCB.

This likely leaves the ball in ICC's court.

If terms are to remain as underlined by the ICC prior to their ultimatum, then Bangladesh could well be replaced by Scotland, who are the highest-ranked team to have not qualified for the T20 World Cup. A few days earlier, Scotland had clarified that they had not been approached by the ICC in this regard. However, that could change now.

As it stands, Bangladesh's 24-hour deadline to make a final decision and inform the ICC has expired.

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