Pakistan will not take the field against India in the group stage fixture of the T20 World Cup on February 15. This is the decision taken by the Pakistan government on Sunday while giving its team the approval to travel to Sri Lanka to feature in the tournament scheduled to begin on February 7.
“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 against India,” said a post on X (Formerly Twitter).
The decision, which has not yet been officially communicated to the International Cricket Council (ICC), has now put a serious question mark on the top-drawer fixture in any ICC event.
Ever since Bangladesh put in a request to move its matches from India to Sri Lanka citing security concerns and failed, Pakistan had been protesting against the decision. In a show of support to the Bangladesh Cricket Board, they voted in favour of their request in the ICC board meeting and their chairman Mohsin Naqvi even threatened to boycott the tournament. When Bangladesh refused to play their matches in India, they were eventually replaced by Scotland for the tournament.
Naqvi had earlier said that a decision on Pakistan’s participation in the T20 World Cup will be taken on Monday. And on Sunday, with just days left before its team leaves for Sri Lanka, the Pakistan government has taken this decision, on the same day that India and Pakistan faced off in the ICC Under-19 World Cup in Zimbabwe.
In case Pakistan don’t take the field against India on February 15, they will lose two points and there could be sanctions from the ICC as well.
Teams refusing to take the field is not new in ICC events. In the 1996 World Cup, Australia and West Indies didn’t go to Sri Lanka citing security reasons. During the 2003 World Cup, England refused to play Zimbabwe due to political reasons and in the same tournament New Zealand didn’t show up in Nairobi to play Kenya in a group fixture.