Pakistan yet to inform ICC about T20 World Cup boycott:Apex body’s board meeting still pending, PCB will follow Pak government’s directive

Just days before the T20 World Cup, the Pakistan government has sprouted a new set of problems for the International Cricket Council (ICC), announcing that it won’t take the field for the marquee clash against India in the competition on 15 February. Although Pak government did confirmed that it will participate in the ICC tournament. However, our neighbours made the bold announcement public by posting it on X (formerly Twitter). Technically, it is not considered an official message until PCB conveys it formally to ICC. Therefore, there is no official action from cricket’s apex body as well. But PCB told media sources that even if the message gets it’ll stand in solidarity with their government. Pakistan yet to formally inform ICC about forfeiture from clash vs India As per the Cricbuzz report, the Pakistan Cricket Board has not officially written to ICC about their decision to forfeit the match against India. Notably, Men in Green were supposed to play India on 15 February as part of T20 World Cup 2026’s group stage schedule. The only thing in writing is the social media post from the Government of Pakistan. Since this message was not conveyed to ICC formally, the apex board has not taken action on it apart from the response that it issued on Sunday night (2 February). No closed-door meeting among ICC directors According to the same media sources, it has been learned that ICC has not conducted any board meeting or planned one yet. Notably, there are 16 directors on the ICC board and no one has confirmed any kind of immediate action on the issue. However, after the social media announcement bythe Pakistan government, the apex board issued a response saying, “While the ICC awaits official communication from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), this position of selective participation is difficult to reconcile with the fundamental premise of a global sporting event where all qualified teams are expected to compete on equal terms per the event schedule.” “ICC tournaments are built on sporting integrity, competitiveness, consistency and fairness, and selective participation undermines the spirit and sanctity of the competitions.” Considering the tough stance that ICC indicated in its response, the apex board might impose severe sanctions on Pakistan. However, it has been learned that PCB will stand by the decision of their government, no matter what ICC says or does. Estimated loss of ₹2200 crore (USD 250 million) if Pakistan skips match vs India If Pakistan stays adamant on not playing the T20 World Cup group match against India, it can incur a loss of millions of USD. A former ICC and PCB communications head, Sami-ul-Hasan Burney, summed up the magnitude of the money riding on just one game. “As regards the sanctions or the losses, as I said, the one match is costing USD 250 million (everything accounted for, not just the broadcaster’s loss). Pakistan’s annual revenue is USD 35.5 million, so there is a big, big difference.” Meanwhile, when it comes to just the broadcaster (JioStar) money, they can incur revenue losses in the range of ₹200 crore to ₹250 crore for a marquee game whose 10-second commercial slot can cost up to ₹40 lakh.