 "PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi has refused asking for a bilateral series against India during negotiations with ICC. Image: AP")
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi has finally broken the silence on his government’s U-turn on the decision to boycott the India match at the T20 World Cup 2026 after negotiations with the International Cricket Council (ICC). Naqvi said that Pakistan did not demand anything itself from the ICC, and the discussion was limited to Bangladesh.
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Pakistan boycotted the India match after the ICC replaced Bangladesh with Scotland due to the government’s decision not to play the matches in India. Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that the boycott was a mark of protest against the ICC.
However, on Monday, Pakistan made a U—turn after negotiations with the ICC in Lahore on Sunday. That meeting was also attended by Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) Aminul Islam. Later on Monday, ICC said no action would be taken against Bangladesh for refusing to play in India, following which Pakistan decided to withdraw the boycott of the Indian match.
Naqvi refutes Pakistan’s demand for matches vs India
There has been a feeling that PCB may have also tried to cut a deal for itself, but Naqvi has refuted any such suggestions.
“We did not discuss anything apart from Bangladesh, our only purpose was to get Bangladesh respect, to highlight the injustice done to them. And you saw that whatever demands Bangladesh made, they were accepted. That’s it,” Naqvi said.
“We had no personal interest in the meeting … our task was purely related to Bangladesh. The government made the decision on that (basis).”
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Naqvi added that ICC has acknowledged that “injustice” was done to Bangladesh by removing them from the T20 World Cup.
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View All“When their demands have been accepted, and it has been acknowledged that injustice was done to them, we are playing after that,” he added.
Naqvi’s comments contradict earlier reports that Pakistan wanted more matches against India , including a bilateral series, to withdraw their boycott.
The India vs Pakistan match in the T20 World Cup 2026 will be played in Colombo on 15 February.