The Government of Pakistan on Sunday (February 1) confirmed that the Pakistan cricket team would travel to Sri Lanka to participate in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 but would not take the field against India.
The arch-rivals are slated to square off on February 15 at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. The marquee fixture is estimated to generate a considerable portion of the tournament's global sponsorship and broadcast revenue. However, the fate of the encounter is now in serious doubt following the Pakistan government’s announcement.
With Pakistan set to boycott the match against India, legendary batter Sunil Gavaskar has urged the International Cricket Council (ICC) to impose strict sanctions on Pakistan to set a strong precedent for other teams going forward.
“Definitely, I think if you withdraw at the last moment, that is an issue. If you withdraw earlier on, that’s another matter altogether. But if you withdraw at the last moment, on the eve of the tournament, then yes, I think certainly the ICC should come in and take some action. I don’t know what action they will take, but I think there are so many other boards involved, so it’s not just going to be one person’s decision. However, it should be something that ensures no other team in the future also considers doing that,” Gavaskar said while speaking to India Today.
Pakistan’s ‘boycott’ move comes days after the ICC rejected Bangladesh’s plea to relocate their matches to Sri Lanka. BCB had cited ‘security concerns” for their players in India following heightened tensions between the two countries and the release of Mustafizur Rahman by IPL franchise KKR on BCCI’s instructions.
However, the apex body turned down the request, saying no such verifiable threat existed while also highlighting the logistical difficulty of altering the tournament schedule so close to the event. Bangladesh maintained their stance and were later replaced by Scotland in the 20-team tournament.
Pakistan are in Group A alongside India, Namibia, Netherlands, and USA, with all their matches scheduled to be held in Sri Lanka.
If the Men in Green fail to take the field against India on February 15, the match will be ruled a forfeit under ICC rules, resulting in an automatic loss of two points and a hit to their net run rate.
Clause 16.10.7 states that in the event of a forfeit, "the net run rate of the defaulting team shall be affected in that the full 20 overs of the defaulting team's innings in such forfeited match shall be taken into account in calculating the average runs per over of the defaulting team over the course of the relevant portion of the competition."
