The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced its final stance on participating in the ICC T20 World Cup. They have finally decided to abide by their government’s diktat, even if they qualify for the knockouts and have a game scheduled against India.
Pakistan’s stubbornness has scattered the entire dynamics of the upcoming T20 World Cup. Though many have claimed that the attack this time is not on India or the BCCI, but on the ICC, for not having met the demands of the BCB. They believe that the ICC had met India’s ploy to not feature in the ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan, so why not the same for Bangladesh, when they refused to travel to India?
The ICC has, however, mentioned on several occasions that the Bangladesh matches could not be shifted due to logistical challenges that were faced due to the tickets being sold already for the match being conducted at the Eden Gardens.
PCB will follow the government’s order if it meets India again in the knockouts
The Pakistan government permitted the PCB to take its team over to Sri Lanka for the ICC T20 World 2026; however, they issued a boycott on the game against India on the 15th of February at the R. Premadasa Stadium.
The PCB also abided by the decision made by their government, and hence, Mohsin Naqvi confirmed that they will make their plans clear to the ICC on Monday. The announcement was made live on Sunday by the Pakistan government.
According to the latest report, a PCB source has confirmed to PTI that PCB will follow the government’s instructions even if they are placed against India in a knockout game in the ICC T20 World Cup 2026.
“The board has also been notified by the government that the national team will not play against India on 15th February and forfeit points in the World Cup. As for the scenario where Pakistan might be required to play against India in the knockout stages, the board will follow any decision taken by the government at that time as well,” a PCB source said.
“One board cannot be allowed to run world cricket,” PCB accuses ICC of bias
Mohsin Naqvi, during his meeting with the Pakistan Chief Minister, had asked him to make a decision where they could keep themselves in contention, but had also made it clear that the PCB would agree to any decision made by the government regarding the T20 World Cup issue.
“As far as the PCB is concerned, for a while now there has been a growing feeling that the ICC has not been just in its dealings with some of the other boards, more recently with Bangladesh, and one board cannot be allowed to run world cricket,” the source said.
The PCB has blamed the ICC for hearing claims made by only one board (by which they hinted at the BCCI), and hence, they made the statement that the body cannot be run by a single board. These attacks grew stronger after former BCCI secretary Jay Shah was elected the ICC Chairman uncontested.
ICC to cut Pakistan’s revenue for T20 World Cup
After Pakistan made the statement to boycott the game against India, the ICC immediately issued them an ultimatum and warned them of consequences. Alongside consequences, the ICC had asked the PCB to arrive at a solution that is mutually acceptable and safeguards the interests of all stakeholders.
However, the PCB has not paid heed to the ICC on this issue, despite the warning from the ICC to cut off their T20 World Cup revenue. Several claims have been made regarding Pakistan’s revenue from the ICC being negligible, which does not affect the board.
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