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Pakistani team reached Sri Lanka for T20 World Cup 2026, but still refused to play against India

Summary

pakistan cricket team(Photo– AP) New Delhi: Pakistan’s 15-member cricket team left for Sri Lanka on Monday under the leadership of captain Salman Ali Aga. The team has reached Colombo to take part in the T20 World Cup starting from 7th February, where after two days’ rest, they will play their first warm-up match against Ireland…

Ronit Sharma

By Ronit Sharma
Feb 03, 2026, 12:42 PM IST

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Pakistani team reached Sri Lanka for T20 World Cup 2026, but still refused to play against India

pakistan cricket team(Photo– AP)
New Delhi: Pakistan’s 15-member cricket team left for Sri Lanka on Monday under the leadership of captain Salman Ali Aga. The team has reached Colombo to take part in the T20 World Cup starting from 7th February, where after two days’ rest, they will play their first warm-up match against Ireland on 4th February. However, amid this participation, an order from the Government of Pakistan has cast a cloud of uncertainty over the excitement of the entire tournament.

Pakistan government’s decision on selective participation

The Pakistan government has given permission to its team to play in the tournament, but has directed to boycott the group match against India to be held on February 15. The government has clarified in an official statement that the Pakistan team will not take the field against India. The decision has been taken in the wake of Bangladesh’s exit from the tournament in recent weeks and rising political tensions with India. Pakistan had supported Bangladesh’s request for a neutral venue and is now registering its protest by not playing against India itself.

ICC warning

The International Cricket Council has reacted sharply to Pakistan’s stance of selective participation. The ICC has clarified that in a global event all teams are expected to compete on equal terms and boycotting select matches undermines the spirit, fairness and sanctity of the game. According to ICC, this decision is not in the interest of global sport and millions of fans of Pakistan.

Technical and economic impact of not playing matches

This will be the first time since 2010 that there will be no great clash between India and Pakistan in the group stage of any ICC men’s tournament. The consequences of this decision will also be heavy for Pakistan technically. Not taking the field against India will not only cost Pakistan two valuable points but will also have a negative impact on their net run-rate under ICC playing conditions. Additionally, this match is the biggest source of revenue, the lack of which increases the possibility of a cut in the ICC’s profits and the annual funds received by the PCB.

Pakistan’s T20 World Cup schedule

Pakistan have been placed in Group A along with India, Namibia, Netherlands and USA and all their group matches are scheduled in Sri Lanka due to security reasons. The team will start their campaign against Netherlands on 7 February, after which they will face America on 10 February and Namibia on 18 February. Experienced players like Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah have been included in the team. This team, captained by Salman Ali Aga, will now start preparing for the tournament through its practice session at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo.