Sympathise with Bangladesh but we fully deserve to be here: Scotland's Watt

Kolkata, Feb 6 (PTI) Scotland spinner Mark Watt on Friday expressed sympathy for the Bangladesh players after they missed out on the T20 World Cup owing to their government's stance, but said Scotland, who replaced them at the last minute, fully deserved their place in the global competition.

Watt added that the Scottish side had the ability to spring a few upset wins during the tournament.

Scotland will take on the West Indies in a Group C match at the Eden Gardens on Saturday, hoping to begin their campaign on a winning note after missing out on qualification and being drafted in following the ICC's decision to replace Bangladesh in the tournament.

"We're very sympathetic towards the Bangladesh players. But we still massively believe that we should be here and we believe that we can be beating teams higher ranked than us. So there's no second guessing our invite into this tournament. We're all ready to go," said the left-arm spinner, a veteran of 77 T20Is.

Bangladesh were ousted after refusing to travel to India citing security concerns. They held India responsible for the turmoil, which escalated after KKR pacer Mustafizur Rahman was released from his IPL contract following instructions from the BCCI.

Watt said the turn of events had forced the team into last-minute preparations, but added that the players were now really excited to be part of the competition and eager to make their mark.

"We got a lot of youngsters in the team at the moment and how more excited can they be. Ten days ago they were sitting and doing nothing, now they're here in India playing in a World Cup, it's absolutely amazing for them.

"We're all so excited to be here and ready to go," he said. PTI AM AM KHS KHS