They should have been facing Scotland in front of a raucous Dhaka stadium in the tournament’s opening match as the hosting country.
Rather, they will probably be performing in front of a small audience under somewhat strange circumstances, and their prospects of pulling off unexpected wins along the way will be diminished.
It is very different from what was anticipated only a few months prior.
Following weeks of intense political instability in Bangladesh that ultimately resulted in the formation of an interim administration, the World Cup was abruptly moved to a new place.
The only option left to the International Cricket Council (ICC) was to move the World Cup from Bangladesh to the United Arab Emirates in late August.
The governments of participating countries, including England, cautioned against traveling to Bangladesh due to the absence of law and order.
A squad that has only won one game in five T20 World Cup contests would be severely hurt by losing home advantage.
Bangladesh lost nine straight Twenty20 matches earlier this year, including series sweeps by Australia and India.
But 2023 was a rather good year, with convincing wins against South Africa away and India at home, raising hopes for a new era for the side just a year out from a home World Cup.
