As Bangladesh were replaced by Scotland at the 2026 T20 World Cup, we look back at instances when teams were forced to miss ICC tournaments for various reasons.
Note: Some of these entries were from before the ICC assumed control of the World Cup.
West Indies, 1982 Women’s World Cup
West Indies were among the five teams invited to play the 1982 Women’s World Cup along with Australia, England, India and the Netherlands, with hosts New Zealand being the sixth side. But the West Indies withdrew in protest against New Zealand’s hosting of the South African rugby team during the apartheid era in 1981.
The Netherlands couldn’t make it either, but due to an entirely different reason. The two teams were replaced by an International XI, featuring players from India, Australia, New Zealand, England and the Netherlands.
India, 1988 Women’s World Cup
The Indian players weren’t aware that their entry wasn’t sent for the 1988 World Cup draw, which, as per The Fire Burns Blue by Karunya Keshav and Sidhanta Patnaik, was the result of a “bureaucratic confusion and politicking”. In Free Hit, Suprita Das writes that the erstwhile women’s cricket governing body in India, the WCAI, failed to get sponsorships and withdrew participation “without even informing the team”.
The players only got to know when they assembled in Delhi to travel to Australia. Prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was urged to intervene by senior players Diana Edulji and Shantha Rangaswamy, but it was too late as the Netherlands had already replaced India.
Australia and West Indies, 1996 World Cup
India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan were picked as co-hosts for the 1996 World Cup. But Australia and the West Indies refused to travel to Sri Lanka, in the midst of a civil war, where a bomb explosion rocked Colombo two weeks before the start of the tournament.
With little time for contingency plans, Australia and the West Indies forfeited their group matches against Sri Lanka, scheduled to be played in Colombo. Sri Lanka eventually beat Australia in the final at Lahore.
England and New Zealand, 2003 World Cup
The 2003 World Cup was co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya. England refused to play their tournament opener, against Zimbabwe in Harare, citing security concerns: they even received death threats due to the UK government’s reservations against the Robert Mugabe-led Zimbabwe regime.
New Zealand, meanwhile, did not travel to Kenya due to security concerns, with NZC chief Martin Snedden stating “the risk to player safety and security remains too high”. Both sides initially hoped that the games would be relocated to South Africa, but that didn’t happen, and points from the two games were awarded to Zimbabwe and Kenya, respectively.
Zimbabwe, 2009 T20 World Cup
Zimbabwe had to withdraw from the 2009 T20 World Cup, played entirely in England, after it was made clear that their players may not be granted visas to play the tournament due to differences between the two governments.
The decision was taken a year in advance. Zimbabwe Cricket chair Peter Chingoka telling ESPNCricinfo: “We have been informed that the British government may not grant visas to our players, and that situation may prevail during the Twenty20 World Cup. We don't want to be gatecrashers; we will attend only those weddings to which we are invited.”
Scotland replaced Zimbabwe for the tournament, while the African side also received their full participation fee.
Australia, 2016 U19 World Cup
After an Italian charity worker was shot dead in Dhaka, Australia’s senior men’s team cancelled a bilateral tour of Bangladesh in October 2015. Four months on, their stance did not change as the Australian government advised the CA not to send the U19 players to Bangladesh for the World Cup as there was “high threat to Australian interests in Bangladesh”. Ireland, who had finished as runners-up in the qualifying tournament, were invited to replace Australia.
New Zealand, 2022 U19 World Cup
New Zealand decided against sending their team to the 2022 U19 World Cup in the West Indies due to mandatory quarantine restrictions, known as Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ), on minors upon their return from foreign countries. Scotland were named as their replacements.
India, 2025 Champions Trophy
Pakistan, 2025 Women’s World Cup
A year after Pakistan had sent their team for the 2023 World Cup, the BCCI decided against sending theirs for the 2025 Champions Trophy. They argued that the Indian government had not given them the clearance due to security concerns. After multiple rounds of discussion, a hybrid model between the two teams was agreed upon.
It was decided that any ICC tournament in the 2024-2027 cycle hosted by India or Pakistan will see the other side play all their games at a neutral venue. For the 2025 Champions Trophy, Dubai was picked as India’s base, and they went on to win the tournament. Similarly, Pakistan played all their 2025 Women’s World Cup games in Colombo.
Pakistan will be playing all their T20 2026 World Cup games in Colombo as well: however, Sri Lanka are the co-hosts (unlike the two previous instances), and the schedule was laid out well in advance.
Bangladesh, 2026 T20 World Cup
After the BCCI banned Mustafizur Rahman from the 2026 IPL, forcing Kolkata Knight Riders to terminate his contract, the BCB decided against sending their team to India for the World Cup due to security concerns. They argued that their matches could be moved to Sri Lanka, co-hosts of the tournament.
However, ICC deemed there was no alarming threat to the safety of the Bangladesh cricket team and refused to move their fixtures. BCB stood firm on their stance, and eventually, they were replaced by Scotland.
Special mentions
- The Netherlands were invited to the 1978 and 1982 Women’s World Cups, but couldn’t participate due to financial reasons.
- The West Indies faced a similar situation at the 1978 World Cup and had to give it a miss.
- Zimbabwe couldn’t play in the 2021 T20 World Cup because Zimbabwe Cricket had been suspended by the ICC.
- And lastly, the quirkiest of all: Papua New Guinea were just a game away from qualifying for the 2020 U19 World Cup, with a win needed against Japan in their last East Asia-Pacific Region qualifying game. But they couldn’t field a side and Japan qualified for their maiden U19 World Cup instead, because 11 of PNG's 14 players were caught shoplifting!
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