The International Cricket Council has informed its board members that Scotland will replace Bangladesh following their refusal to play the T20 World Cup matches in India.
It is understood that ICC chief executive Sanjog Gupta sent an email to the board members late on Friday, following the expiry of the 24-hour time-frame to the Bangladesh Cricket Board to take a final call in consultation with their government. Gupta said that the BCB wasn’t complying with the ICC guidelines and the world body was left with no other option but to replace them.
BCB president Aminul Islam, a member of the ICC board, was one of the recipients of Gupta’s email. Cricket Scotland was accordingly told about their inclusion in the tournament on Saturday.
The BCB had cited security issues in India, which had been dismissed by the ICC board via a 14-2 verdict at an emergent meeting on Wednesday. With the BCB refusing to climb down from their stance, the board decided to go ahead with its decision to replace Bangladesh in the 20-team tournament, which begins on February 7.
The ICC believed there was no credible security threat to the Bangladesh team in India, and that agreeing to change the venues would set an unwelcome precedent.
“...safeguarding the interests of all participating teams and fans, and avoiding the establishment of precedents that could undermine the neutrality and fairness of ICC events,” was of great importance to the world body.
“The decision follows an extensive process undertaken by the ICC to address concerns raised by the BCB regarding the hosting of its scheduled matches in India. Over a period of more than three weeks, the ICC engaged with the BCB through multiple rounds of dialogue conducted in a transparent and constructive manner, including meetings held both via video conference and in-person,” the ICC said in a media release.
Scotland will be placed in Group C and will meet West Indies (February 7), Italy (February 9) and England (February 14) at Eden Gardens. Their final group league match will be against Nepal in Mumbai on February 17.
The BCB, in its communication with the ICC on Thursday, said it wanted to take the issue to the Disputes Resolution Committee, but the matter was beyond its purview.
Clause 1.3 of DRC states: “The Committee shall not operate as an appeal body against decisions of the ICC or any decision-making body established under the ICC’s Memorandum and Articles of Association or under any rules and regulations of the ICC, but shall operate as the sole forum and procedure for challenges to the lawfulness of such decisions, with the Committee exercising a supervisory jurisdiction.”
There is talk that the BCB was contemplating a rethink with a top official slated to speak to Muhammad Yunus, head of their interim government, but that had come too late in the day.
The BCB’s decision to not play in India came a day after IPL franchise KKR released Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman following instructions from the BCCI that cited the “recent developments” in Bangladesh.
“The BCCI bowed down to pressure from fundamental(ist) groups and kicked him out of their tournament,” the Bangladesh government’s sports adviser Asif Nazrul
had alleged.