Women’s T20 World Cup 2026: Scotland forced into making last-minute change after Abtaha Maqsood’s injury

Scotland have been forced into making a last-minute change to their 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup squad following the injury to legspinner Abtaha Maqsood. This comes just a day before their opening game of the tournament against Ireland at Old Trafford in Manchester.

Maqsood picked up her injury in the Scots’ last warm-up before the showpiece tournament against Pakistan on Tuesday. The 27-year-old will be a huge miss for her side due to her pedigree in the shortest format of the game. As things stand, she is her nation’s highest wicket-taker in T20I cricket, having taken 73 scalps from 78 matches at an economy rate of just 5.63.

Scotland have called up 29-year-old Hannah Rainey as an injury replacement. The right-arm seam bowler last represented her nation in November 2025 and has recently been applying her traits with Yorkshire in the Tier 1 system of English domestic cricket. She recently played two T20 Blast games for the White Roses, taking two wickets against Durham. 

Rainey has 41 T20I caps under her belt, taking 25 wickets along the way at an economy of 5.39.

“The whole playing squad and coaching staff are absolutely gutted for Abtaha. She’s such an important member of our squad and will be a great loss to us both on and off the pitch during this tournament. We wish her all the very best in her recovery and hope to see her back on the field soon. Hannah now comes into the squad, and we are delighted to welcome her into the group. She obviously has plenty of experience, and this is a great opportunity for her as we head into an exciting few weeks,” Scotland head coach Craig Wallace said via ESPNcricinfo. 

Despite missing Maqsood for the rest of the tournament, Scotland do have other quality bowlers in their ranks who can flourish in the spinner’s absence. These include star all-rounder Kathryn Bryce, Katherine Fraser and Priyanaz Chatterji, to name a few.