Following Ireland’s rejection of the Bangladesh Cricket Board‘s (BCB) petition to switch groups, the debate surrounding Bangladesh’s participation in the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 has intensified. In order to play all of their group-stage matches in Sri Lanka rather than India, Bangladesh has petitioned the International Cricket Council (ICC) to switch groups with Ireland.
Cricket Ireland has stated that it will adhere to the initial timetable, nevertheless.
At the T20 World Cup 2026, Bangladesh is presently ranked in Group C. Their matches are slated to take place in Mumbai and Kolkata. The team is in the same group as Italy, Nepal, England, and the West Indies. Iyrish, meanwhile, is in Group B, which also consists of Australia, Zimbabwe, Oman, and Sri Lanka. All of the matches are set to take place in Sri Lanka.
The problem started when the BCB formally told the ICC that they would not be attending the tournament in India. The BCB asked that every Bangladeshi game be moved outside of India because to safety and security concerns for players, officials, media, and fans.
BCB has reaffirmed its proposal to switch the location.
Bangladesh proposed a fresh group exchange with Ireland as the ICC and BCB continued their deliberations. The plan was to move Ireland to Group C, where they would play in India, and Bangladesh to Group B, where they would be able to play all group games in Sri Lanka.
Officials from the ICC and the BCB met in Dhaka to consider the proposal. The BCB acknowledged in a formal statement that group swapping was considered as a potential solution to the issue with the least amount of logistical inconvenience.
Cricket Ireland has now disregarded any such modification, though. Officials from Cricket Ireland stated that they had gotten clear guarantees that their timetable won’t change. According to the original schedule, Ireland will play all of their group-stage games in Sri Lanka, the source confirmed.
“We have definite guarantees that we will stick to the original timetable. We will undoubtedly compete in Sri Lanka’s Group Stage,” a CI official informed Cricbuzz in a statement.
As per the current schedule, Ireland will play their last group encounter against Zimbabwe in Kandy after facing Sri Lanka, Australia, and Oman in Colombo. Ireland has stated that it sees no reason to accept Bangladesh’s request, with the ICC sticking to the previous schedule. In the meantime, BCB has reaffirmed that the request to withdraw their matches from India is predicated on directives from the government of Bangladesh.
Home