Sunil Gavaskar, a former India captain, has shared his views on Pakistan’s announcement of boycotting their T20 World Cup 2026 match against India. India and Pakistan are set to clash on February 15 in Colombo in the ICC event in a Group A match.

Pakistan announced earlier this week that it will participate in the T20 World Cup 2026 but will not play India.

Speaking about the controversy, former India captain Gavaskar stated Pakistan's choice does not surprise him at all. He also maintained that Pakistan had no legitimate reason to withdraw from the battle.

"This is not a surprise. After the ICC decided not to accept Bangladesh's request to shift their matches, only two boards voted in favor: Bangladesh and the Pakistan Cricket Board. Pakistan also said at that point that they might not play the tournament. So, it was pretty clear that skipping the entire event would cost them heavily, but boycotting the match against India doesn't come as a surprise. There were hints they were looking to do something like this," Gavaskar told India Today.

Gavaskar stated that Pakistan is looking to take advantage of the changing political situation by showing solidarity with Bangladesh.

He also stated that it was decided beforehand that Pakistan won’t play in India and vice versa; hence, the Men in Green don’t have any reason to boycott their game against India.

“It actually makes you wonder what is going on. The political situation in the Indian subcontinent has changed, and Pakistan is looking to take advantage of that by showing solidarity with Bangladesh. They also voted [against the ICC] at the meeting, so that is totally understandable. Before the venues were decided, Pakistan said they won't play in India, which was accepted. There is no reason for them to boycott the match against India. They haven't specified a reason. At the moment, we are second-guessing why they are doing it. There is no statement from the Pakistan government or the PCB. We just have to wonder why they have decided not to play against India," he added.

The ICC has urged Pakistan to rethink, citing the possible long-term damage to the sport in the country.

Gavaskar further stated that if Pakistan maintains this posture, the consequences could be severe, potentially leading to their isolation from world cricket.

“When the ICC board met recently, the vote was 14:2. It's going to be something similar to 14:2 when the ICC board meets again to decide on the sanctions against Pakistan," Gavaskar noted.

The Pakistan squad landed in Colombo on Monday amid the ongoing controversy. They will take on the Netherlands in the tournament opener on February 7.