The Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif explained to the public his reasons for boycotting the T20 World Cup 2026 match against India. The Pakistan government announced that the national team will compete in the tournament but they will not participate in the group stage match against India which is scheduled for February 15. Sharif stated that sports should not have any political interference and he announced that Pakistan will back Bangladesh. “Our organization supports sports to remain political-free which we established as our mandatory position. After we examined all available evidence we reached this decision. We are with Bangladesh, and I think this is the right and proper decision,” he said while addressing the federal cabinet in Islamabad
The International Cricket Council (ICC) released a statement which declared that the “selective participation” by the Pakistan Government violates the “fundamental premise of a global sporting event” and the ICC expects the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to find a solution which will maintain the rights of all involved parties.
The ICC received confirmation about the Pakistan Government’s decision to direct its national team to participate in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 through their announcement which they made to the public.
The ICC stated that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) needs to provide official information to them about their decision to allow players to participate in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 because their current approach conflicts with the worldwide sports event requirement that all eligible teams should participate according to the established schedule.
Pakistan squad for ICC T20 World Cup 2026:
Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Mohammad Nafay (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (wicketkeeper), Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan, Usman Tariq.