The Pakistan government has directed its national team to boycott T20 World Cup match against India.
The Government of Pakistan has granted permission for its national team to participate in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, but instructed them not to take the field for their scheduled clash against India on February 15.
Even though the ICC has made it clear that selective participation will not be allowed, Pakistan haven’t changed their stance yet. The arch-rivals are placed in Group A along with Namibia, the Netherlands and the USA.
While Pakistan have decided to forfeit the group-stage fixture against India, no one knows what will happen if the two teams meet again in the knockout stage.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, former India cricketer Aakash Chopra offered his views on how the broadcasters and ICC will recover money if the marquee encounter does not go ahead.
"Firstly, it's a slightly rough calculation. It's not written anywhere how much you would earn from a particular game. The rumor market is hot at the moment. Everyone is saying whatever they wish. So you can't say that you get a quarter billion dollars from this," Chopra said.
"Plenty of things might happen. Everyone else will say, 'Tum to maroge hi, humein kyun leke doob rahe ho (You will drown anyway, why are you taking us down with you).' They will ask for them to be thrown out. Don't make them a part of the FTP. You can reprimand them because they are not bringing anything. You might not give NOCs to their players or have bilateral engagements with them," he added.
Chopra was blunt as he suggested that Pakistan cricket's relevance in current times is due to its rivalry with India.
"Pakistan cricket is important not because they play well - as they don't play well. They have reached the final of an ICC event only twice in the last 10 years. They last won in 2017 and reached the final in 2022. It's not like they are an incredible cricketing team," Chopra stated.
"Pakistan is important because the India-Pakistan rivalry is alive. The day you kill that rivalry, the day India and Pakistan stop playing against each other, India will continue on their merry way - but Pakistan's value, in terms of what they bring to the table, absolutely diminishes," he further remarked.