Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday reiterated the country’s decision to boycott its T20 World Cup match against India, saying the country has taken a “clear stand” for the February 15 match in Sri Lanka, reported Dawn.
“We have taken a clear stand regarding the T20 World Cup that we will not play the match against India,” the Pakistan PM said while addressing the federal cabinet in Islamabad. Shehbaz Sharif added that they decided to boycott the India match after careful assessment and called for an appropriate decision.
“There should be no politics in sports,” he said. “We have taken this stand after deliberating on it carefully,” he said, calling it an “appropriate decision”.
Earlier, Pakistan decided to boycott its group-stage match against India in the T20 World Cup after the Pakistan government posted on X that the Pakistan team “shall not take the field” in the match against India without providing any reason.
Following the Pakistan government’s decision, the International Cricket Council (ICC) issued a statement saying that “selective participation” is not fair to the “fundamental premise of a global sporting event” and that it expects the PCB to explore a mutually acceptable resolution that protects the interests of all stakeholders.
The ICC said in a release that it has noted the Government of Pakistan’s statement regarding the decision to instruct its national team to selectively participate in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026.
“While the ICC awaits official communication from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), this position of selective participation is difficult to reconcile with the fundamental premise of a global sporting event where all qualified teams are expected to compete on equal terms per the event schedule,” the release said.
It said that ICC tournaments are built on sporting integrity, competitiveness, consistency, and fairness, and selective participation undermines the spirit and sanctity of the competitions.
“While the ICC respects the roles of governments in matters of national policy, this decision is not in the interest of the global game or the welfare of fans worldwide, including millions in Pakistan. The ICC hopes that the PCB will consider the significant and long-term implications for cricket in its own country, as this is likely to impact the global cricket ecosystem, which it is itself a member and beneficiary of,” the release said.
It said the ICC’s priority remains the successful delivery of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, which should also be the responsibility of all its members, including the PCB. “It expects the PCB to explore a mutually acceptable resolution, which protects the interests of all stakeholders,” the release said.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman and the country’s interior minister, Mohsin Naqvi, last month met Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to brief him on the matter of the International Cricket Council’s decision after Bangladesh refused to send its team to India over purported “security concerns”.
The ICC announced last month that Scotland will replace Bangladesh in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 after the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) refused to participate in the tournament per the published match schedule.
The announcement came after the ICC, in the absence of any credible or verifiable security threat to the Bangladesh national team in India, rejected the BCB’s demand to move its matches from India to Sri Lanka for the 20-team tournament, to be played from February 7 to March 8, according to a release.
Scotland is the highest-ranked T20I side not originally qualified for the tournament. They are currently ranked 14th, ahead of seven teams already in the tournament: Namibia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Nepal, the United States of America (USA), Canada, Oman, and Italy.
Pakistan have a terrible record against India in ICC T20 World Cups. The two teams have played eight times, with the record standing at 7-1 in India’s favour.
In the Asia Cup last year, Pakistan were clean-swept by a clinical India in a trilogy of entertaining matches, including the final. Throughout these matches, young Indian stars Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma dominated Pakistan bowlers with their fiery knocks, with Tilak scoring a brilliant 69* during a tense 147-run chase in the final, showing his big-match temperament.
Pakistan announced its squad last month for the T20 World Cup, which is being hosted by India and Sri Lanka. They are placed in Group A alongside India, Namibia, the Netherlands, and the USA.
- Agencies
