What began as Mustafizur Rahman’s sudden omission from the Indian Premier League (IPL) quickly spiralled into a broader diplomatic and cricketing standoff, ultimately casting uncertainty over Bangladesh’s participation in the upcoming T20 World Cup.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday upheld the previous schedule for the upcoming T20 World Cup, co-hosted by Sri Lanka and India from February 7.

ESPNcricinfo outlines four main scenarios.

The ICC has scheduled a Board meeting for Wednesday to discuss the BCB’s request to move Bangladesh’s matches to Sri Lanka over security concerns in India.

It seems as if nothing happening on the pitch is significant enough to overshadow the events unfolding off it.

As the clock ticks down, the ICC faces mounting pressure to resolve the standoff.

“We’ve received definitive assurances that we won’t move from the original schedule. We’re definitely playing the Group Stage in Sri Lanka,” a Cricket Ireland official told Cricbuzz.

As previously announced, Wayne Madsen will lead the European outfit for the tournament.

India-born Dilpreet Bajwa will lead Canada at the T20 World Cup next month, the country's cricket board said on Wednesday as it announced a 15-member squad for the competition.

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Aminul Islam Bulbul recently reiterated that the board will remain steadfast on its stance over the security of the Bangladesh contingent for the ICC T20 World Cup.

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) finance committee chairman M Najmul Islam has come under heavy criticism after labelling former captain Tamim Iqbal an “Indian agent” in a social media post.

The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) places heavy expectations on players from the franchises’ side, creating a competitive grind that sharpens Bangladesh’s national team toolbox, particularly those in the pipeline. From that perspective, the BPL offers a major platform to showcase performance in franchise cricket, but this time it presents a unique opportunity for players aiming to break into the Bangladesh T20I squad ahead of the World Cup in February.

All-rounder Cooper Connolly hopes his blazing Big Bash League form can help him earn him a recall to Australia's Twenty20 squad for next year's World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka have hired former Indian fielding coach R. Sridhar to do the same job for them ahead of the men's T20 World Cup starting in February, the board said Wednesday.

Joe Burns, the former Australia international who captained Italy to a historic first-ever ICC Men’s T20 World Cup qualification, will not be part of the Azzurri squad for the global tournament in India and Sri Lanka next year.

The 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup will run from February 7 to March 8 and will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka

South Africa finished runners-up to India in the 2024 Twenty20 World Cup, and will be among the favourites for the coming edition which India and Sri Lanka co-host in February-March.

The 29-year-old JJ Smit struck an unbeaten 61 and took 3-16 in the African qualifier

This will be the first time Pakistan play neighbours Afghanistan in a T20I match on home soil, the PCB said.

Australian white-ball skipper Mitchell Marsh says he will open the T20 batting with Travis Head for the foreseeable future as the team looks for stability at the top leading into next year's World Cup.