ICC rejects BCB’s request to relocate T20 WC matches.

The ICC Board has rejected the Bangladesh Cricket Board's request to shift the 2026 T20 World Cup from India to another venue.

An emergency board meeting attended by all members decided that Bangladesh's request cannot be accepted. They have 24 hours to indicate whether they will participate in the tournament.

If Bangladesh continue to refuse to play in India due to security reasons, the ICC Board has decided to shift the match with Scotland based on team ranking.

The decision was taken after a vote by the ICC members. All but two of the 16-member board voted against any changes to the Twenty20 World Cup schedule. According to the final board decision, the World Cup, which was scheduled to be held from February 7 to March 8, will go ahead as planned.

The ICC's decision follows weeks of uncertainty over Bangladesh's participation in the T20 World Cup. The move was in response to the BCCI ordering Kolkata Knight Riders to release Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman from their IPL squad for the 2026 IPL, although no specific reason was given for the order.

Since then, the Bangladesh Cricket Board and the Bangladesh government have said that Bangladesh will not travel to India and would prefer to play in Sri Lanka instead. During its interactions with the ICC last week, the PCB had also requested that Bangladesh's squad be replaced with a team like Ireland, which plays all of its group matches in Sri Lanka. The ICC rejected the request.

The risk assessment report for the T20 World Cup, compiled by an independent security firm and accessed by ESPNcricinfo, said the threat to teams playing in India was moderate-high, but added that there was "no information to suggest a direct threat against participating teams".

Bangladesh are in Group C of the T20 World Cup and are scheduled to play the finals in Kolkata on February 7, 9 and 14, and in Mumbai on February 17.