Scotland To Replace Bangladesh If BCB Decline India World Cup Travel

The International Cricket Council has taken a firm stance on Bangladesh's refusal to travel to India for the upcoming T20 World Cup, conveying to them that they will be replaced by Scotland if they remain adamant in their stance.

Bangladesh Cricket Board has been given one more day to deliberate with their government and get back to the apex body by tomorrow.

The decision was taken in an ICC Board meeting, where all the directors of the Full Members countries were present. It is reported that the majority of the 15 directors who were present in the meeting voted in favour of replacing Bangladesh if the stalemate persists.

The meeting took place after the Pakistan Cricket Board wrote a letter to the ICC, in which it extended its support to BCB's demand and also gave the option of Pakistan as an alternate venue to host Bangladesh's World Cup matches.

It is understood that barring Pakistan, BCB didn't get support from any other cricket board present at the meeting. In case, BCB still don't budge from their stance they'll be replaced by Scotland cricket team, who are next in the T20 rankings.

The ICC Chairman was present in the meeting along with the directors of all the full member countries. Earlier ICC representatives - Andrew Ephgrave and Gaurav Saxena had meetings with the BCB, where they tried to convince the latter to travel to India for their World Cup fixtures. However, the meetings didn't borne any fruit as BCB stuck to their stance, leading ICC to take a firm stance.

ICC also cited the risk assessment report compiled by an independent security agency, which indicated a moderate to high threat to teams playing in India, with no clear evidence of any direct threat to any team.

Bangladesh are scheduled to play four matches in India - three in Kolkata and one in Mumbai.