The Pakistan cricket team will be allowed to take part in the upcoming Twenty20 World Cup but will have to boycott the group game against India, the Pakistani government said on Sunday.
There was no immediate reaction from the ICC, cricket’s governing body. The tournament starts on Saturday.
“The Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan gives permission to the Pakistan Cricket Team to participate in the ICC World T20 2026,” the government said on its official X account. “However, the Pakistan Cricket Team will not take the field in the match scheduled for 15th February 2026 against India.”
Pakistan will play all its games in Sri Lanka due to political tensions with India, which is co-hosting the tournament with Sri Lanka.
No reason was given for Pakistan’s boycott of the Group A game against India, but Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Mohsin Naqvi criticized the ICC for “double standards” by refusing to move Bangladesh’s games to Sri Lanka. Bangladesh replaced Scotland in the tournament.
Naqvi openly expressed Pakistan’s support for Bangladesh and left the decision of Pakistan’s participation in the T20 World Cup to the government when he briefed Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on the issue.
Pakistan’s first match will be against the Netherlands on Saturday. She will then face the United States on February 10 and Namibia on February 18.
India will get two points if Pakistan loses the game.
The Pakistan-India tournament match generates huge interest and is a significant source of income for the ICC through broadcasters and sponsors.
Pakistan and India have not played a bilateral cricket series in the last 14 years, but both countries have been drawn into the same group at any ICC event since 2012.
Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha, who led the team to a 3-0 win in the three-match T20 series against Australia on Sunday in Lahore, said he will follow his government’s instructions.
“It (boycott of the game against India) is not our decision, we can’t do anything about it,” Agha said. “We will do whatever our government and the PCB chairman say.”
Tensions between the two countries spilled over onto the cricket field last year when India’s players refused to shake hands with Pakistan’s during three Asian Cup games, including the final, in the United Arab Emirates.
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