The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced on Saturday that Scotland will replace Bangladesh in the T20 World Cup, which is scheduled to be held in India next month.
Bangladesh had announcement on January 4, he would not play his T20 World Cup matches in India after his player Mustafizur Rahman was released by his Indian Premier League (IPL) team amid growing tensions between the two countries. Subsequently, Bangladesh “formally requested” the ICC to move its games to Sri Lanka, which the council had rejected. However, Bangladesh had insisted that they would not travel to India for the tournament.
In the statement Posted on its website on Saturday, the ICC said the decision was taken in the absence of “any credible or verifiable security threat” to the Bangladesh national team in India.
“Scotland have been called up to take Bangladesh’s place in Group C, joining England, Italy, Nepal and the West Indies,” the ICC announced.
The ICC noted that Scotland, ranked the 14th highest T20 team in the world, were selected as they were the second highest ranked team after Bangladesh.
The statement further said that the governing body rejected the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s (BCB) request to shift its matches from India to Sri Lanka, which is co-host of the tournament.
“Independent security assessments were conducted by internal and external experts,” the statement said.
“The (ICC) Board of Directors took the difficult decision that it was not possible to accommodate the BCB’s requests so close to the tournament,” the ICC said.
“The decision follows an extensive process undertaken by the ICC to address concerns raised by the BCB regarding the staging of its scheduled matches in India,” it said.
The engagement between the ICC and the BCB took place over more than three weeks, the statement said, adding that several rounds of dialogue were conducted “in a transparent and constructive manner” with meetings held both via video link and in person.
“As part of this process, the ICC reviewed the concerns cited by the BCB, commissioned and reviewed independent security assessments by internal and external experts, and shared detailed security and operational plans covering federal and state arrangements, as well as enhanced and increasing security protocols for the event,” the statement added.
“These assurances were reiterated at several stages, including discussions involving the board of directors of ICC Business Corporation (IBC). The ICC’s assessments concluded that there was no credible or verifiable threat to the security of the Bangladesh national team, officials or fans in India,” the statement said.
Based on these findings, cricket’s governing body determined that it was “not appropriate” to modify or change the tournament schedule.
Further, the statement added that following a meeting on Wednesday, the BCB was given 24 hours to confirm its participation in India as planned.
“No confirmation was received within the specified time frame, the ICC proceeded in accordance with its established governance and qualification processes to identify a replacement team,” the statement added.
Naqvi denounces unfair treatment of Bangladesh
Earlier in the day, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said Bangladesh was being treated unfairly and should be allowed to participate in the tournament.
Naqvi, who is also the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, made the remarks while speaking to the media in Lahore.
In his address to the media, Naqvi said that the CPC’s stand on the situation would be in accordance with the instructions of the Pakistan government.
“Bangladesh has been treated unfairly. I said the same thing at the ICC board meeting. You cannot have double standards, where one country can take any decision at any time and do the opposite for another country.
“That is why we have taken a stand that Bangladesh is being treated unfairly and should be allowed to play the World Cup anyway. They are a major stakeholder and this injustice should not take place.”
Asked about a possible boycott of the World Cup, he said the decision would be taken by the Pakistani government. “We are waiting for the prime minister to return,” he said, adding that a final decision would then be made.
He was also asked if he would suggest to the ICC a hybrid model for Bangladesh, similar to that existing between Pakistan and India.
“The fact is that Bangladesh is the same member as Pakistan. And our position is that if you have done this favor to Pakistan and India, then you should do the same to Bangladesh,” he said.
“The main reason is that one country cannot dictate another. And if this dictation is attempted, then Pakistan will definitely have its own position,” he said.
When asked if there was a “plan B” for a scenario in which Pakistan did not play the T20 World Cup either, he quipped: “Let the decision come first; we have plans A, B, C, D.”
