'There is no scope...': Bangladesh sports advisor reacts after ouster from T20 World Cup

Bangladesh sports advisor Asif Nazrul shared his verdict on the team's exit from the 2026 T20 World Cup. Bangladesh have pulled out from the tournament after the International Cricket Council (ICC) didn't accept their demand of shifting their venues for the competition. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had wanted their matches to be held in Sri Lanka, who will be jointly-hosting the T20 World Cup alongside India from February 7.

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However, the ICC had repeatedly rejected their request and had told them on Wednesday that continued refusal to travel to India will result in the team being removed from the tournament and getting replaced by another team. They had also given them 24 hours to take their final stance on the matter. BCB eventually stuck to their words and decided against travelling to India for the T20 World Cup and thus they now won't be participating in the tournament.

Nazrul's comments on the matter

Nazrul reacted to the team's ouster and remarked that the ICC hadn't given them justice. He also said that there is no scope for the Bangladesh team to travel to India as according to them, there are plenty of security concerns in the country.

“There is no scope to change our decision. We believe we did not get justice from the ICC. We still hope that ICC will justice with us. The security situation in India remains unchanged. Our security concerns did not materialize out of thin air. It stemmed from a real incident," Nazrul said after a meeting with Bangladesh team cricketers and BCB officials.

“The country [India] could not provide security for one of our cricketers. In that country, the cricket board is an extended part of the government, which either failed or was reluctant to give one of my cricketers protection when put under pressure by extremists groups," he added.

Scotland to replace Bangladesh?

With Bangladesh now out of the tournament, Scotland remain as the frontrunners to replace them. Though they had failed to qualify through the European regional qualifiers, they are currently the highest-ranked team that is not a part of the 20-team tournament. It remains to be seen if they will be added to the competition following Bangladesh's exit.