By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Bangladesh have been replaced by Scotland for next month’s Twenty20 World Cup after the South Asian side refused to travel to co-hosts India.
Scotland, ranked 14 in the world, have been called up by the International Cricket Council (ICC) by virtue of being the highest-ranked team not already at the tournament and will take Bangladesh’s place in Group C.
In a statement released on Saturday, the ICC said it had “engaged with the BCB through multiple rounds of dialogue conducted in a transparent and constructive manner”.
The ICC board said the BCB were given a final 24 hours to confirm they would travel to India.
That deadline has now passed and ICC officials decided to press ahead with an alternative plan to invite Scotland to participate instead.
“In light of these findings, and after careful consideration of the broader implications, the ICC determined that it was not appropriate to amend the published event schedule,” the statement added.
The ICC also said it was keen not to establish “precedents that could undermine the neutrality and fairness of ICC events”.
Cricket Scotland officials had been closely monitoring developments for the past few weeks and it is understood that internally they have taken some operational steps to prepare for this scenario.
Scotland’s players were already back in training as they had been preparing for a one-day international tri-series with Namibia and Oman in Windhoek in March.
Nonetheless it will be a tight turnaround for Scotland’s players to obtain visas to enter India with their first match scheduled to be on the opening day of the tournament, against West Indies in Kolkata on 7 February.