Scotland could replace Bangladesh at next month’s T20 World Cup

Scotland could be a last-minute call up to the T20 World Cup next month if the International Cricket Council fails to reach agreement with Bangladesh, who are refusing to travel to India.

Bangladesh are in group C with England for the tournament — which will take place in India and Sri Lanka in February and March — but the Bangladesh Cricket Board recently wrote to the international governing body saying that because of political tensions between the two countries, they would not travel to India. Instead, they requested that their matches be moved to Sri Lanka.

The ICC has responded that there are no specific threats relating to the Bangladesh cricket team and is unwilling to alter the fixtures this late in the day, leaving the Bangladesh Cricket Board and Bangladesh government with a choice: fulfil their group-stage fixtures in Mumbai and Kolkata, or pull out of the tournament.

The Times understands that a decision will be made on Wednesday.

Should the Bangladesh government refuse permission for their players to travel to India, Scotland would be called up to take their place. There have been no discussions yet between the ICC and Cricket Scotland, but these would take place after Wednesday.

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Scotland failed to reach the T20 World Cup after finishing fourth in last summer’s European qualifying event, with Italy and Netherlands in the top two and taking the European spots for associate nations.

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