While the Government decides not to take the field against India on February 15 in Colombo for the group match of the ICC T20 World Cup 2026, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced a fresh squad for the women’s Rising Stars Asia Cup in Bangkok, Thailand, on February 15, where Pakistan will be up against India.
Like the T20 World Cup 2026, in the women’s Rising Stars Asia Cup, too, an India vs Pakistan match is scheduled to be played. PCB announced their full squad ahead of the tournament, and it is expected to watch these two teams facing each other as per the schedule.
Pakistan is all set to face India
The notable fact is that PCB announced the women’s squad for the Rising Stars Asia Cup on the same day when the government declared that they would skip the clash against India on February 15 in Colombo. In a press release, PCB said that they were placed in the same group as India, saying the game would take place on February 15 at 2 pm local time or 12:30 pm IST. For that, the PCB on February 1 announced the squad for the women’s ‘A’ team.
Pakistan ‘A’ is placed in Group A alongside India ‘A’, UAE, and Nepal, while Group B comprises Bangladesh ‘A’, Sri Lanka ‘A’, Malaysia, and hosts Thailand. The top two sides from each group will play semi-finals after playing three games each,” the PCB informed in their official press release.
PCB released an official statement
The date of the team announcement made their ‘boycott’ decision more interesting. On the same day, the nation’s government directed the men’s national cricket team to boycott the highly anticipated match in Colombo.
“The Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan grants approval to the Pakistan Cricket Team to participate in the ICC World T20 2026; however, the Pakistan Cricket Team shall not take the field in the match scheduled on 15th February 2026 against India,” the Government wrote on their official social media accounts.
Like the men’s cricket team, will the women’s team boycott their match with India? So far, there are no such indications. According to ESPNcricinfo, the Pakistan women’s A team has not yet received any instructions about the fate of this game against India A. Their preparation for the tournament is proceeding as normal.
Why the hypocrisy?
The Rising Stars Asia Cup is organised by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), and Mohsin Naqvi is the head of the ACC, who is also the chief of PCB. It is believed that Naqvi has a strong influence behind the government’s decision to boycott the India match in the T20 World Cup 2026. They are set to boycott the match to show protest to the ICC’s decision to eject Bangladesh from the tournament.
If, out of patriotism, Pakistan wants to boycott their clash with India for the T20 World Cup 2026 match, then why are they preparing to face the rival nation in the Rising Stars Asia Cup? The question remains.
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