ICC seeks justification from Pakistan on India match boycott stance:PCB had asked apex body to invoke ‘Force Majeure’ clause

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has sought for justification from Pakistan on their request to have ‘Force Majeure’ clause invoked on their stance of boycotting their T20 World Cup match against India. The Pakistan government, earlier this month, had announced that their team would not play against India in the tournament which their Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said was a show of support for Bangladesh. The controversy stemmed from the ICC removing Bangladesh from the T20 World Cup after they refused to travel to India citing security reasons. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi had publicly criticised this decision, calling it ‘injustice’ and threatening to boycott the competition. ICC seeks clarification from Pakistan Cricket Board The ICC has sought a justification from the PCB on why the team has decided to pull out of just one match while being cleared to compete in the remainder of the tournament based on the instructions of the government. This was after the PCB had written to the ICC seeking the invocation of the ‘Force Majeure’ clause on their stance to boycott the India match. The PCB is said to have written to the ICC about the potential damages that the apex body could claim from Pakistan in case of not abiding by the agreement of playing all matches in the tournament. As per Cricbuzz, the ICC and the PCB have started discussions on these issues. Earlier, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had reaffirmed his government’s decision of boycotting the match against India. “There should be no politics in sports,” Sharif had said. What is ‘Force Majeure’? Invoking the ‘Force Majeure’ clause in case of a contract means citing unforeseen circumstances that prevent a party from fulfilling a contract. In this case, PCB cited the government’s decision as the reason behind their boycott of the match against India. Pakistan to take U-turn on their decision to boycott the India match? So will Pakistan take a U-turn on their decision to boycott the match against India? There were signs of a potential change of heart after the PCB said that it would talk to its government, with Sri Lanka Cricket informing them about the massive financial damages it would incur should there be no IND-PAK match in the T20 World Cup. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) appealed to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to reconsider their boycott stance of the match against India, highlighting massive financial damage, among other losses. The SLC is said to have informed the PCB of suffering a big loss in revenue if India and Pakistan do not play each other, as scheduled, in Colombo on 15 February. The SLC also informed that such a boycott would also tarnish the image of the tournament, which Sri Lanka is co-hosting alongside India. Sri Lanka had played in Pakistan despite security threat SLC, not very long ago, had asked its players to remain in Pakistan and complete a bilateral ODI series after security concerns emerged following a bomb blast in Islamabad. The Sri Lankan cricket board had put out a statement asking its players to either remain in Pakistan and play their scheduled matches against Pakistan or face a ‘formal review’ if they choose to return home. ICC’s first response to Pakistan’s boycott announcement After the Pakistan government had announced its decision to boycott the match against India on 1 February, the ICC had put out a statement, hoping that the PCB would reconsider its stance. “The ICC notes the statement that the government of Pakistan has made regarding the decision to instruct its national team to selectively participate in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026,” the apex body said, adding, “The ICC hopes that the PCB will consider the significant and long-term implications for cricket in its own country as this is likely to impact the global cricket ecosystem, which it is itself a member and beneficiary of.”