KABUL (Pajhwok): Pakistan will boycott their Group A match against India at the 2026 ICC T20 World Cup, ESPNcricinfo has reported.
A statement issued on the official X account of the Government of Pakistan confirmed that while the government had granted permission for the Pakistan cricket team to travel to Sri Lanka for the tournament, it would not participate in the match scheduled for 15th February 2026 against India.
The statement, however, did not provide specific reasons for the decision. The full text of the post on X read: “The Government of the 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 India-Pakistan clash has historically been one of the most high-profile and lucrative fixtures in the world of cricket, often drawing significant viewership. To ensure this, the ICC has consistently placed the two teams in the same group at ICC events since 2012, despite their diplomatic tensions and the absence of a bilateral series for the past 14 years.
There is no official word yet on what will happen if the two teams meet in a knockout stage, but the 2026 T20 World Cup now looks set to be the first men’s ICC tournament since 2010 to exclude an India-Pakistan group-stage encounter.
Pakistan is placed in Group A alongside India, Namibia, the Netherlands, and the USA. All of Pakistan’s matches will be played in Sri Lanka, which co-hosts the tournament with India.
The team’s fixtures include a first match against the Netherlands on 7th February 2026, followed by games against the USA on 10th February and Namibia on 18th February. Should Pakistan proceed with the boycott, they will forfeit the two points from the India game.
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