Legendary South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes has broken his silence on Bangladesh's exit from the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, stating that politics and sport often intersect despite repeated attempts to keep them apart. His comments came after the International Cricket Council decided to replace Bangladesh with Scotland after the Bangladesh Cricket Board refused to tour India for the tournament.
Bangladesh was excluded from the T20 World Cup, scheduled to be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka from February 7 to March 8, after they declined to play their matches in India, citing security concerns. The BCB had sought to relocate their fixtures to Sri Lanka, a request that the ICC rejected following extensive consultations and independent security assessments. With no credible security threat identified, the ICC confirmed Scotland as Bangladesh's replacement.
Speaking at a T20 World Cup promotional event, Rhodes accepted that while administrators often hope to keep politics out of sport, it is not always possible. Drawing from his own experiences during apartheid-era South Africa, Rhodes noted that sporting sanctions had once played a role in driving political change.
