In 10 days, Scotland players have journeyed from doing nothing at home to playing the ultimate competition in cricket’s shortest format. For Zainullah Ihsan, the feeling of incredulity is even more. The fast bowler had missed the age cut-off for the under-19 World Cup but disappointment turned to delight when he was called up for this. “Suddenly, I am on the big stage,” he said.

A Glaswegian since 2022, the story of the wiry Afghan-born pacer explains why he sets great store by then word kismet. He had only played tape-ball cricket when he was asked to join his brother’s friends for a knockabout. Membership to GHK Cricket Club followed and after six wickets in the four remaining matches of the season, his career graph has only gone north.

“I took 21 wickets in 12-13 matches next season,” Ihsan said in Hindi. “This year, I took 27. I have played for the A team but never for the senior team. I didn’t know what to say when the coach called to tell me that I was in, so I said ‘thank you.’”

Scotland’s late entry into the competition is well-thumbed: they are in because Bangladesh pulled out after their wish to move matches to Colombo was denied. Cue a lot of WhatsApp messages getting sent around, said Watt, a left-arm spinner who starred in the 42-run win against West Indies in the 2022 iteration.

Drummond was in Zimbabwe for the under-19 World Cup. Tom Bruce came from New Zealand and while no player was on holiday, some had just returned from downtime in December and begun training, said Drummond.

Last-minute entries into a major competition have their own challenges. Scotland had a week in Bengaluru to get ready. In 1992, Denmark had five days after Yugoslavia were sent home from the European Championships football competition in Sweden because of war in the Balkans. Like Scotland who finished behind Netherland, Italy and Jersey in the European qualifiers, Denmark had not qualified. Unlike them, it was reason enough for many players to hit the beach.

Denmark players took a ferry to Sweden and trained. “It was nothing like a normal preparation for a tournament. It was relaxed and informal, I called it the National Lampoon training camp. And, frankly, we all thought it was going to be three defeats,” Henrik Larsen, who scored three goals and shared the golden boot with Tomas Brolin, Dennis Bergkamp and Karl-Heinz Riedle, told the Guardian in 2021.

Larsen started the tournament on the bench getting his chance only because Kim Vilfort had to be with his daughter who was battling from leukemia. On June 11, Denmark played England. Fifteen days later, and without the inspirational Michael Laudrup who had quit the national team owing to differences with head coach Richard Moeller Nielsen, they were champions of Europe.

The Danes swum, played golf, ate burgers and downed beers while Germany, their opponents in the final, had only milk, said Larsen. Fast forward to 2026 and Watt said: “Having a break from the game is a good thing. Sometimes you can overthink too much: ‘Oh, we’re playing against England, we’re playing against West Indies, all these thoughts and ideas come into your head. Sometimes, it’s actually quite refreshing to go away and not really think too much about it. And then, we’ll take it head on when it comes.”

Watt said instead of watching videos of the ball sailing for sixes –“not the most encouraging sight for a spinner” – he spoke to Afghanistan’s Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan to find out the best way to bowl here.

Denmark and Abebe Bikila, who won the marathon in the 1960 Olympics running barefoot because the new shoes caused blisters, and Andy Ruiz Jr who defied 11-1 odds to beat Anthony Joshua for the heavyweight boxing title in 2019, will be the gold standard for last-minute entries to emulate.

Watt’s thoughts on them could not be obtained but he did throw down the gauntlet. “I don’t think teams will take us lightly. You know, we’ve caused a few upsets in the past.”