Pakistan Will Not Play India on February 15 in T20 World Cup

Pakistan will not take the field against India in their group-stage match of the T20 World Cup scheduled for February 15. The decision was taken by the Pakistan government on Sunday. At the same time, the government approved the national team’s participation in the T20 World Cup to be held in Sri Lanka, which is set to begin on February 7. The Pakistan team is expected to depart for Sri Lanka shortly.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the Pakistan government stated, “Pakistan will not take the field in the match scheduled against India on February 15.”
However, the decision has not yet been officially communicated to the International Cricket Council (ICC), creating major uncertainty around one of the marquee fixtures of any ICC tournament.

Pakistan has been protesting the decision ever since Bangladesh’s request to move its matches from India to Sri Lanka on security grounds was rejected. In support of the Bangladesh Cricket Board, Pakistan voted in favour of the proposal at an ICC board meeting. Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Mohsin Naqvi had even threatened to boycott the tournament.

Subsequently, when Bangladesh refused to play their matches in India, they were replaced by Scotland in the tournament.

Earlier, Mohsin Naqvi had said that a decision regarding Pakistan’s participation in the T20 World Cup would be taken on Monday. However, with just a few days remaining before the team’s departure for Sri Lanka, the Pakistan government made its final decision on Sunday. Notably, the decision came on the same day India and Pakistan faced each other in the ICC Under-19 World Cup in Zimbabwe.

If Pakistan do not take the field against India on February 15, they will forfeit two points and may also face sanctions from the ICC.

Teams refusing to take the field in ICC events is not unprecedented. In the 1996 World Cup, Australia and the West Indies refused to travel to Sri Lanka citing security concerns. During the 2003 World Cup, England declined to play Zimbabwe for political reasons, and in the same tournament, New Zealand did not turn up in Nairobi to play Kenya in a group-stage.