Pakistan to boycott T20 World Cup clash against India on February 15

Pakistan will not be taking the field in their group stage clash against India at the upcoming T20 World Cup even though they would be participating in the tournament, announced the Government of Pakistan in a post on X on Sunday, February 1.

“The Government of 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 Government of Pakistan posted on X on Sunday to announce its decision.

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The T20 World Cup begins February 7, and the India-Pakistan clash is scheduled for February 15 in Colombo.

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#ICCT20WORLDCUP | Pakistan will not play the match against India on February 15th, tweets Government of Pakistan pic.twitter.com/4dUN9Xi1EE

— ANI (@ANI) February 1, 2026

Decision comes after meeting between Naqvi and PM Sharif

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Mohsin Naqvi was scheduled to meet his country’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday and the decision reportedly came after discussions between the two.

While the social media post did not disclose the reason behind Pakistan’s boycott, the decision comes after Bangladesh were shown the exit door from the T20 World Cup by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

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ICC replaced Bangladesh with Scotland in the showpiece tournament after Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) said that it could not send its team to India due to security concerns. PCB was the only board that supported Bangladesh’s bid to move their T20 World Cup matches outside India.

Naqvi, who is also the Interior Minister of Pakistan, had said that ICC had done injustice to Bangladesh by axing them from the 20-team event.

There were rumours of Pakistan boycotting the tournament to show solidarity to Bangladesh, but the PCB has settled with forfeiting only the India game, which is a marquee encounter in any ICC event. The India vs Pakistan match is one of the most watched sporting events in the world and has huge commercial value.

Pakistan are in Group A alongside India, the United States, the Netherlands and Namibia. Pakistan are also scheduled to play the opening match of the tournament in Colombo against the Netherlands on February 7.