Bangladesh enter 2026 T20 World Cup, ICC surprises everyone by its decision, details inside

By Correspondent On Jan 30, 2026

At first, Bangladesh was not going to be in the 2026 T20 World Cup. The country had declined to join because they were worried about safety in India. They even asked the ICC to move their games to a different location, but that plea was turned down. In an unexpected twist, the ICC eventually let Bangladesh back into the competition.

On Friday, January 30, the ICC shared the names of the 30 officials, 24 umpires and 6 referees working the games. Notably, a few of these officials are from Bangladesh, specifically Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid and Gazi Sohel.

Umpires from Pakistan were also named to the group. Right now, the ICC has only listed the staff for the opening round of matches. They will decide who handles the later stages and the finals at a later time.

Meanwhile, India and New Zealand are currently facing off in a five-game T20 series. This follows a three-game ODI series they just finished. During those three matches in India, the Bangladeshi official Sharfuddoula served as the TV umpire. Now, he and his colleagues will be back in India to help run the World Cup games.

— ICC (@ICC) January 30, 2026

The 2026 World Cup will start on February 7, with the first match played between Pakistan and the Netherlands in Colombo. Kumar Dharmasena and Wayne Knights will serve as umpires for this game.

How many match referees are there in total?

There are six referees for the tournament and they are – Dean Cosker, David Gilbert, Ranjan Madugalle, Andrew Pycroft, Richie Richardson, Javagal Srinath.

How many umpires are there in total?

There are 24 umpires in total and they are – Roland Black, Chris Brown, Kumar Dharmasena, Chris Gaffaney, Adrian Holdstock, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Wayne Knights, Donovan Koch, Jayaraman Madanagopal, Nitin Menon, Sam Nogajski, KNA Padmanabhan, Allahuddien Paleker, Ahsan Raza, Leslie Reifer, Paul Reiffel, Langton Rusere, Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid, Gazi Sohel, Rod Tucker, Alex Wharf, Raveendra Wimalasiri, Asif Yaqoob.