New Delhi [India], January 24 (ANI): The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Saturday announced that Scotland will replace Bangladesh at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026.

Scotland has been called up to take Bangladesh's place in Group C, joining England, Italy, Nepal and the West Indies. The announcement comes after the ICC, in the absence of any credible or verifiable security threat to the Bangladesh national team in India, rejected the BCB's request to move their matches from India to Sri Lanka, which is co-hosting the tournament, which commences on February 7.

'Earlier today, I received correspondence from the ICC asking if our men's team would play at the Men's T20 World Cup, and we have accepted. We are grateful to the ICC for extending this invitation. This is an exciting opportunity for Scotland's players to compete on the global stage in front of millions of supporters. We also acknowledge this opportunity has arisen out of challenging and unique circumstances. Our squad have been training for some weeks in preparation for upcoming tours and are now preparing to arrive in India imminently to acclimatise to local conditions, ready to play and contribute to what should be a fantastic ICC Men's T20 World Cup,' Trudy Lindblade, Cricket Scotland Chief Executive, said as per the Cricket Scotland website.

Wilf Walsh, Cricket Scotland Chair, said, 'I welcomed a call from ICC Chair Jay Shah earlier today confirming that Scotland will receive an invitation to play at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup. I was pleased to accept on behalf of our team, who are willing and ready to go. We thank the ICC for this opportunity and look forward to competing with some of the best sides in the world in India in the coming weeks.'

Scotland is the next-highest-ranked T20I team that had originally missed T20 World Cup qualification. They are currently ranked 14th, which is ahead of competing teams Namibia, the United Arab Emirates, Nepal, USA, Canada, Oman, and Italy. (ANI)