By Kritika Gangwar
Pakistan has decided to not withdraw from the T20 World Cup scheduled to be held in India and Sri Lanka from February 7 to March 8. However, the team will not be playing a match against India which was scheduled for February 17 in Colombo.
The decision was confirmed by the government of Pakistan after a meeting between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Mohsin Naqvi, chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Naqvi on the other hand has stepped up his criticism of the International Cricket Council (ICC), alleging that they have mistreated Bangladesh as they were replaced with Scotland in the 20-team tournament .
The Pakistan government made this announcement through their X handle, stating that the government of Islamic Republic of Pakistan had approved the Pakistan cricket team’s participation in the ICC World T20 2026 and made it clear that the team won’t take part in a match with India.
The meeting between Naqvi and the Prime Minister started at around 6:30 pm IST on Sunday. Pakistan had earlier delayed the unveiling of the team’s World Cup jersey, and the reports suggest that the event would take place only after a decision was taken regarding the team’s participation in the 10th edition of the tournament.
Following the announcement made by the Pakistani government, the team has been placed in Group A of the T20 World Cup with India, Namibia, the Netherlands and the USA. The team of Pakistan would open its campaign against the Netherlands on the opening day on February 7.
Pakistan’s decision on not playing the match against India violates the tournament rules, it is now up to the ICC to make the decision. If Pakistan persists, India would be awarded automatic points.
The dispute was between the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and the ICC after Bangladesh’s refusal to travel to India following pacer Mustafizur Rahman’s release by KKR on a BCCI directive. While Bangladesh did not publicly make a move, the PCB later entered the fray.
Pakistan ultimately decided to stay in the tournament but opted to boycott the match against India, which could jeopardize their chances in the semifinals.