Pakistan pull out of India T20 World Cup match, give no reason

Pakistan will boycott their game against India at the 2026 T20 World Cup. A post issued by the Government of Pakistan’s official X account said the government had granted permission for the Pakistan team to travel to Sri Lanka for the tournament. However, it added that “the Pakistan cricket team shall not take the field in the match scheduled on 15 February 2026 against India.”
The statement did not provide a reason for the decision. The full post on X read:
“The Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan grants approval to the Pakistan Cricket Team to participate in the ICC World T20 2026; however, the Pakistan Cricket Team shall not take the field in the match scheduled on 15th February 2026 against India.”
The India-Pakistan fixture is by far the most lucrative—and usually the most-watched—game of any ICC tournament. To capitalize on that, the ICC has ensured the two teams are always in the same group in any ICC event since 2012, even as worsening diplomatic relations between the nations mean they have not played a bilateral series in 14 years. There is no word yet on what would happen should the two sides meet in a knockout game, but this T20 World Cup now looks set to become the first men’s ICC event since 2010 not to feature an India-Pakistan match in the group stages.
Pakistan’s participation—or the extent of it—at the 2026 T20 World Cup had been thrown into doubt by PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi after Bangladesh was removed from the tournament on January 24 following their refusal to play in India due to security concerns. Pakistan was the only country vocally supportive of Bangladesh’s request for an alternate venue and reacted to their removal by accusing the ICC of double standards favoring India. Naqvi said the government would ultimately decide whether Pakistan would take part in the tournament.
Two days later, Naqvi, who met Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, said he had been advised to keep all options open to resolve the issue. He said at the time that a decision would be taken on “Friday or next Monday.” One day out from that deadline, the Pakistan government appears to have made up its mind.
Speculation had been mounting that Pakistan would stop short of a total boycott of the tournament and instead focus specifically on the game against India. That speculation intensified after the PCB announced a squad for the World Cup within the ICC deadline, and a statement—later deleted but briefly released to the media—appeared to confirm Pakistan would travel to the tournament in Sri Lanka. ESPNcricinfo has reached out to the PCB asking for a reason Pakistan refused to play against India.
Pakistan is in Group A along with India, Namibia, Netherlands, and the USA, playing all their matches in Sri Lanka, which is co-hosting the tournament along with India. They play their first match against the Netherlands on February 7, the opening day of the T20 World Cup, then face the USA on February 10 and Namibia on February 18. Pakistan will forfeit the two points from their game against India if they boycott the fixture.
The ICC’s Playing Conditions dictate that Pakistan’s net run rate will be affected by the forfeiture, but India’s will remain unaffected. Clause 16.10.7 states that in the event of a forfeit: “the net run rate of the defaulting team shall be affected in that the full 20 overs of the defaulting team’s innings in such forfeited match shall be taken into account in calculating the average runs per over of the defaulting team over the course of the relevant portion of the competition.” (ESPNcricinfo)