Scotland have announced their squad for the 2026 T20 World Cup after recently being named as Bangladesh's replacement. They have decided to retain 11 players from the 2024 edition including Richie Berrington, who has been handed leadership duties. The squad was selected by their newly-appointed head coach Owen Dawkins, who took over the reins just last month. The squad selection is subject to visa approvals for all players and staff.
Due to the short notice for their participation, Scotland have decided to include two travelling reserves and three non-travelling reserves. One of the most interesting inclusions in their main squad is that of pacer Zainullah Ihsan, who was born in Afghanistan. The 19-year-old has been given his maiden call-up to the squad and is among the younger players of the team.
Dawkins on the selection process
Dawkins described the selection process as a "whirlwind" and admitted that it proved to be quite challenging for them to sort everything out for the players and staff in the short amount nof time that they had.
“It’s been a whirlwind forty-eight hours for everyone at Cricket Scotland. Everyone has been working solidly to get everything sorted for the players and support staff since we learned we would be participating at the World Cup,” Dawkins said.
“We were about to begin more individual skill-specific sessions and had started with fielding last week, but that has now been fast-tracked with the news we received on Saturday,” he added.
The Scotland head coach further said that the other teams have had way more time to prepare for the tournament, but expressed confidence in the squad and backed them to give the opposing sides a run for their money.
“There is no doubt that other squads will have had better opportunities to structure their preparation, and we are at peace with that. We have players in this squad who can make a real impact, and we are excited to be competing in India,” Dawkins stated.
Scotland's schedule in the tournament
Meanwhile, Scotland have been placed in Group C of the T20 World Cup alongside the likes of England, Italy, Nepal and West Indies. They will begin their campaign with the clash against West Indies on February 7 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Scotland's squad for T20 World Cup: Richie Berrington, Tom Bruce, Matthew Cross, Bradley Currie, Oliver Davidson, Chris Greaves, Zainullah Ihsan, Michael Jones, Michael Leask, Finlay McCreath, Brandon McMullen, George Munsey, Safyaan Sharif, Mark Watt, Bradley Wheal