The Pakistan government has allowed its national team to participate in the T20 World Cup 2026, but it did not give them the green light to play against arch-rivals India on February 15. No reason has been specified for this controversial move.

Despite the ICC’s warning that selective participation will not be allowed, Pakistan haven’t changed their stance yet even with only a couple of days remaining for the global showpiece.

While the standoff persists, Bangladesh Sports Adviser Asif Nazrul’s social media post on Thursday (February 5) thanking Pakistan sparked speculation over possible alignment between the BCB and PCB against India.

Notably, Pakistan’s days boycott decision came 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 stating the logistical difficulty of altering the schedule so close to the tournament. Bangladesh maintained their stand and were later replaced by Scotland in the 20-team tournament.

Taking to Facebook, Nazrul wrote: “Thank you, Pakistan. Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that his country has decided to boycott the match against India in protest of Bangladesh being excluded from the T20 World Cup.”

On Wednesday (February 4), Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif reiterated the country's stand of boycotting its T20 World Cup group-stage clash against India.

“We have taken a very clear stand on the T20 World Cup that we won’t play the match against India because there should be no politics on the sports field,” Sharif said while addressing the federal cabinet in Islamabad. “We should stand by Bangladesh, and we believe this is an appropriate decision. We are with Bangladesh.”

Pakistan are slated to play all their T20 World Cup fixtures in Sri Lanka under a hybrid model agreement with the BCCI and ICC till 2027.T20 World Cup gear

If the Men in Green fail to take the field against India, 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. Moreover, severe sanctions are likely to be imposed on PCB that could isolate Pakistan cricket.