World T20: Dampener for Eden fans as Scotland replace Bangladesh

The Kolkata crowd at Eden Gardens may feel somewhat shortchanged to have Scotland replacing Bangladesh in the ICC T20 World Cup next month. The ICC formally announced Scotland as the replacement team in Group C, though it’s believed that Cricket Scotland are yet to give a nod to the invitation.

Scotland, who was given a heads-up after Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) refused to change their stance on the deadline of 21 January (Thursday) of not going to India, will now play West Indies (7 February), Italy (9 February) and England (14 February) in Kolkata, before travelling to Mumbai to take on Nepal on 17 February.

However, with the likes of Litton Das, Mustafizur Rehman or Taskin Ahmed commanding a decent following among the fans here – alongwith pockets of Bangladesh expats who had purchased tickets online – they may feel hard done.

Sources in the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) say that the initial response for the tickets were encouraging, despite crowd favourites India not featuring in any of the league games.

‘’It’s a no brainer that fans from Bangladesh always found it easier to travel to Kolkata, even by road, while the ICC had historically preferred to schedule their matches here. Let’s hope there will be a decent crowd in their absence as all of them are day matches,’’ they said. A media contingent of nearly 50 from Bangladesh, who were supposed to travel with their team on Monday, has been also left in limbo.      

It was only a matter of time before Bangladesh was replaced by Scotland and the final call was taken on Saturday morning when it was learnt that ICC CEO Sanjog Gupta wrote to the ICC Board that Bangladesh’s demands were not in order with ICC policy. In the letter, marked to all members of the Board, Gupta is believed to have mentioned that the BCB was not complying with the ICC Board’s decision and that there was no other option but to invite another country - Scotland in this case.

Scotland have been handed a berth in the World Cup based on their performances in previous ICC events, apart from their current ranking of No. 14. In the last edition of 2024 World T20, they finished third in Group B on the same points as England but lost out on NRR. In 2022, they beat West Indies in the group stage but finished third and thus failed to qualify for the Super 12.

In 2021 in the UAE, Scotland had beaten Bangladesh in the group stage and topped their group. However, they went winless in the Super 12 round.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), the only ICC board member to vote in favour of Bangladesh request to relocate their matches from India, finally broke their silence on the issue. PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi, also the country’s Interior Minister, struck a Bangladesh-first tone in an interaction on Saturday, insisting the neighbour should not be squeezed out of the World Cup conversation at the very start.  

“Dekhie humne yeh stand liya hain ki Bangladesh ke saath zyaarti ho rahi hain, Banglaesh ko har shurat mein unko World Cup mein khilana chahiye, woh ek bara stakeholder hain aur unke saath yeh zyaarti nahi honi chahiye (We have taken the position that Bangladesh is being treated unfairly. They should be made to play the World Cup from the very beginning; they are a major stakeholder and this unfairness should not happen to them.)” Naqvi said. 

 “Agar government of Pakistan kehti hain ki nahi khelna then woh 22nd team le aaye. But yeh faisla government of Pakistan ne karna hain (If Pakistan’s government says it won’t play, then bring in a 22nd team. But that decision has to be taken by the Pakistan government.),” he put the ball on their government’s court.