Scotland, Bangladesh's replacement in T20 World Cup 2026, announce 15-member squad for mega event
Scotland have made a late entry to the T20 World Cup after Bangladesh pulled out, following the ICC's refusal to grant their request to move their matches out of India. Scotland have replaced Bangladesh in Group C and will start their campaign on February 7.
Scotland, the last-minute entrants to the T20 World Cup, have announced their 15-member squad. They replaced Bangladesh in the tournament over the weekend after the ICC made the move official on Saturday (January 24). Bangladesh pulled out of the tournament after the ICC refused their request to move their matches out of India.
As far as the squad is concerned, Richie Berrington will lead Scotland, even as they have retained 11 players from the T20 World Cup 2024. Tom Bruce, who played 17 T20Is for New Zealand, is set to play for Scotland for the first time in the World Cup, having switched allegiance to Scotland last year and also made his ODI debut for them in August.
The other players who will feature for the first time are, Afghanistan-born Zainullah Ihsan, Finlay McCreath and Oliver Davidson. "It's been a whirlwind forty-eight hours for everyone at Cricket Scotland, and I know Steve, Trudy Lindblade and everyone in the organisation have been working solidly to get everything sorted for the players and support staff since we learnt we would be participating at the World Cup," Scotland head coach Dawkins said.
Cricket Scotland confident that visa issues will be solved
Meanwhile, Cricket Scotland has received assurances from the ICC that there will be no visa-related issues for the team despite a late call-up to the T20 World Cup. According to the schedule, Scotland will be in action on the opening day on February 7 against the West Indies in Kolkata. They are also scheduled to play two warm-up matches against Afghanistan and Namibia in Bengaluru on February 2 and 4, respectively.
There could be a delay in visa issuance for Safyaan Sharif who was born in Huddersfield to a Pakistani father and a British-Pakistani mother, as the state of political and diplomatic relations between India and Pakistan has resulted in regular delays for Pakistani nationals or those with Pakistani heritage when applying for Indian visas in recent years.
"So, absolutely, [they have given] the assurance that they can provide of things that were in their control. There is a team working very, very hard to not just help us, but to help 19 other teams as well that are also going to a World Cup. But we are their intense focus right now," Trudy Lindblade, Cricket Scotland's chief executive, said.
Scotland squad for T20 World Cup 2026: Richie Berrington (capt), Tom Bruce, Matthew Cross, Brad Currie, Oli Davidson, Chris Greaves, Zainullah Ihsan, Michael Jones, Michael Leask, Finlay McCreath, Brandon McMullen, George Munsey, Safyaan Sharif, Mark Watt, Brad Wheal
Travelling Reserves: Jasper Davidson, Jack Jarvis
Non-Travelling Reserves: Mackenzie Jones, Chris McBride, Charlie Tear
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