ICC T20 World Cup 2026: Verdict On Bangladesh's Participation Expected Today - Timeline Of How We Reached To This Point

The International Cricket Council is expected to provide their final verdict on the controversial and prolonged matter related to Bangladesh's participation in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2026 in India and Sri Lanka next month.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board remains adamant in not sending their national team to India, where they are supposed to play most of the T20 World Cup matches. The showpiece 20-team event begins on February 7.

Bangladesh are slated to open their T20 World Cup campaign against 2-time champions West Indies on February 9 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

The Bangla Tigers will face Italy, England and Nepal in their remaining Group C matches on 9, 14 and 17th of the month.

But that's only if they are allowed to feature in the competition.

It is being constantly reported that the ICC are looking at Scotland as a possible replacement if Bangladesh does not travel to India.

The schedule has currently been put on hold due to this situation and a lot of reactions from former players and cricket experts have come along. But how and when did we get to this point?

Here's everything you should know before the ICC come up with a final verdict.

It all started after the BCCI advised 2-time IPL champions Kolkata Knight Riders to cancel their 9 crore deal with Bangladeshi seamer Mustafizur Rahman.

The Indian apex board had asked KKR to remove Mustafizur from their squad in the wake of Hindu killings in Bangladesh.

Since then, the BCB have taken some aggressive measures to respond to BCCI's advisory. First they banned the live broadcast of the 2026 Indian Premier League season before asking the ICC to move Bangladesh's T20 World Cup matches from India to Sri Lanka.

The apex international cricketing body, in response, declined BCB's request and assured that ICC will work closely with the Bangladeshi board to solve their security concerns in India.

However, Bangladesh weren't convinced about the security measures of not only their players but also the media personnel and fans who would travel to India for the World Cup.

Bangladesh's sports advisor Asif Nazrul, after a meeting with national team players, announced that the ICC's assessment was not acceptable to them and also made some fiery comments against the apex international body.

In a recent press conference, Nazrul stated the BCB is expecting the ICC to provide justice to them by letting them play their matches in Sri Lanka.

The ICC on Wednesday refused to accept BCB's security concerns, saying that the Bangladesh Cricket Board was repeatedly linking its participation in the tournament to a "single, isolated and unrelated development concerning one of its player's involvement in a domestic league."

As of now, the latest update is that Bangladesh might be getting dropped from the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 unless they agree to play their matches in India. The final call is expected to come in the next 24 hours.

Bangladesh's Squad For The ICC T20 World Cup 2026

Litton Das (C), Tanzid Hasan, Parvez Hossain Emon, Saif Hassan, Tawhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain, Quazi Nurul Hasan Sohan, Shak Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Nasum Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Taskin Ahmed, Shaif Uddin, Shoriful Islam

Bangladesh's Schedule For The ICC T20 World Cup 2026

West Indies: February 7, Kolkata

Italy: February 9, Kolkata

England: February 14, Kolkata

Nepal: February 17, Mumbai