Scotland step into T20 World Cup as visa race begins after Bangladesh exit

The drama that has unfolded ahead of the T20 World Cup being jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka has certainly overshadowed on-field preparations of the teams participating. With Bangladesh refusing to play in India, the lucky beneficiary has been Scotland, who on Monday, announced their 15-man squad.

The Scots though, are keeping it low-key and not going overboard with their sudden turn in fortunes. Their main focus right now is getting Indian visas for the players, including for fast bowler Safyaan Sharif, who has Pakistani heritage, in time for the T20 World Cup opener on February 7.

Cricket Scotland is confident that Sharif, who was born in Huddersfield to a Pakistani father and a British-Pakistani mother before moving to Scotland aged seven, will be granted a visa in time for the team's opening match against the West Indies in Kolkata on February 7.

Meanwhile, Cricket Scotland Chief executive Trudy Lindblade, expressed her sympathy for Bangladesh.

"We certainly have (sympathy) for the Bangladesh team," Lindblade said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

"Obviously, this is not how we wanted to go to a World Cup. There is a qualification process, and nobody wants to qualify or attend or be invited to a World Cup in the way that we have done. We acknowledge it is certainly unique circumstances by our participation, and we do feel for the Bangladesh players," she added.

Steve Snell, Cricket Scotland Head of Performance, is optimistic that the team is ready for the varying challenges of playing in the sub-continent conditions.

"The coaching staff, selectors, and I are all really excited about the squad that has been picked. We feel it's well-balanced and caters for a lot of different scenarios and challenges that the team will face in India," Snell said as quoted by ICC.

Scotland will be captained by Richie Berrington and have previously participated in six of the nine editions of the T20 World Cup. They have been placed in Group C and will face England, Italy, Nepal, and the West Indies.

Incidentally, Scotland are the highest-ranked T20I side not to originally qualify for the tournament. They are currently ranked 14th, ahead of seven teams already in the tournament: Namibia, UAE, Nepal, USA, Canada, Oman and Italy.