T20 World Cup 2026; Scotland will mostly play in Kolkata – three games- and one in Mumbai. (Cricket Scotland)
Seventeen years after they stepped in for Zimbabwe, who were replaced in the 2009 T20 WC edition at England, Scotland will once more benefit from political tensions as Bangladesh refuse to travel to India, and are told by ICC to keep out of the 2026 India-hosted edition.
While the politics bubbles over in the subcontinent, Scotland have declared they are “always ready” to compete, as they respond to the last minute invite, to be part of the India hosted World Cup. “We also acknowledge that 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, was quoted as saying.
Scotland are currently ranked 14th, but missed out on qualifying finishing in 4th place, from Europe with lower-ranked teams like Namibia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Nepal, USA, Canada, Oman, and Italy making it ahead of then. They had earlier played the 2009 T20 World Cup in England after Zimbabwe pulled out of the tournament due to political reasons.
Always ready 👊#FollowScotland pic.twitter.com/bsFDOSAGVb
— Cricket Scotland (@CricketScotland) January 24, 2026
After Scotland received correspondence from the ICC asking if the men’s team would play at the Men’s T20 World Cup, the team had said it was an exciting opportunity for Scotland’s players to compete on the global stage in front of millions of supporters.
Scotland play England on Valentine’s Day and are bunched with Italy, Nepal, and the West Indies in Group C. Scotland will mostly play in Kolkata – three games- and one in Mumbai.
Cricket Scotland stressed the men’s squad has been training for several weeks ahead of scheduled tours and will now travel to India immediately to acclimatise before the tournament begins. Scotland are due to announce selections in coming days.
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