- Pakistan stands in solidarity with Bangladesh after ICC expels team.
- Politics should have no place in the field of sports: PM Shehbaz.
- Pakistan team currently in Sri Lanka to participate in T20 World Cup.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif confirmed on Wednesday that Pakistan will not play against India in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, emphasising that the decision was made after much deliberation.
“Politics should have no place in the field of sports,” the prime minister said while explaining Pakistan’s stance on the 20-team tournament. He made the statement while addressing the federal cabinet meeting.
He further stressed that the country should stand with Bangladesh in the matter.
Pakistan had decided to boycott the February 15 match against arch-rivals India to show solidarity with Bangladesh, which the International Cricket Council (ICC) kicked out of the tournament after rejecting Bangladesh Cricket Board’s (BCB) request to move their matches to a venue outside India.
The cricketing body then replaced Bangladesh with Scotland in the tournament, stating that it was not feasible to revise the schedule so close to the February 7 — start of the World Cup.
Meanwhile, multiple other factors influenced Pakistan’s decision to boycott the match, including ICC’s perceived biased stance towards Bangladesh playing a central role, with government sources noting that the Pakistani team was instructed not to take the field against India on February 15 as “a form of protest”.
The sources said that ICC chief Jay Shah’s partial decisions had effectively turned the International Cricket Council into an extension of the Indian cricket board.
They further said that these biased decisions have undermined the principles of fairness and equality, accusing the ICC of applying different standards to different countries on its platform.
Since then, the ICC, in its statement, has expressed hope that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) would work towards a “mutually acceptable resolution”.
While recognising the prerogative of national governments, the ICC publicly urged the PCB to reconsider, arguing that the decision harms the sport and its global fanbase.
The council encouraged the Pakistani board to pursue a mutually acceptable solution that protects the interests of all stakeholders in the game, saying that the boycott decision was not “in the interest of the global game or the welfare of fans worldwide, including millions in Pakistan”.
Currently, the national team is present in Colombo, Sri Lanka, to partake in the highly anticipated T20 World Cup, scheduled to be co-hosted by Sri Lanka and India from February 7 to March 8.
