By Alam Zeb Safi
LAHORE: And eventually the big saga was resolved. Pakistan’s government has allowed its national cricket team to feature in the ICC T20 World Cup which will begin in India and Sri Lanka from February 7.
However the state has decided that Pakistan will not play its February 15 group match against India which is a big blow to the global event.
“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 state statement it released on its social media platform said.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) also shared this statement with reporters soon after Pakistan downed Australia by 111 runs in their third game to complete a whitewash.
This is a big decision and it will also hit the revenue which will be generated from the World Cup. Pakistan-India clash always has been extremely important for any ICC event. And not only venues are full in these games but from other cordons too a big hype is created which also adds to the revenue in-flow.
Pakistan are in Group A with India, Namibia, United States and Netherlands. The issue created when ICC Executive Board turned downed Bangladesh’s request to shift their World Cup matches from India to Sri Lanka. Bangladesh was given a deadline to confirm its participation in the World Cup. However Bangladesh government decided that it cannot send its team to India due to security issues. ICC then announced that Scotland will replace Bangladesh in the global event.
The PCB chief Mohsin Naqv, who is also the head of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), strongly criticised ICC’s double standards and told reporters that final decision whether Pakistan will boycott the World Cup will be taken after consulting the prime minister Shahbaz Sharif who was in those days abroad.
Naqvi consulted the premier on his arrival and said that the final decision will be made by February 2. Naqvi also held meeting with the premier today and it was decided that Pakistan will field in the World Cup but will not play the February 15 World Cup match against India.
