Won’t play against India, says Shehbaz Sharif:Pakistan PM states ‘there should be no politics in sports, completely stand by Bangladesh’

In a major development, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that reiterated his government’s decision to not allow his country to play against India in the T20 World Cup 2026. India and Pakistan were scheduled to clash against each other in the tournament on 15 February in Colombo. On 1 February, the Government of Pakistan had put out a post on X stating that their team was cleared to compete in the T20 World Cup but would be boycotting their match against India. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), however, have not officially communicated this decision to the International Cricket Council (ICC). Shehbaz Sharif says Pakistan will not face India in the T20 World Cup Addressing his cabinet on Wednesday, Sharif said, “We have taken a very clear stand on the T20 World Cup that we won’t play the match against India because there should be no politics on the sports field.” He also added that this decision was taken as a show of support for Bangladesh, a country which is poll-bound on February 11. “We have taken a very considered stance, and we should completely stand by Bangladesh, and I think this is a very appropriate decision,” he added. These comments by the Pakistan PM effectively put to rest the uncertainty over the match, with the ICC’s final response now awaited. ICC’s reactions to Pakistan’s India match boycott call After Pakistan officially announced their decision to boycott the India match, the International Cricket Council (ICC) responded with a statement, saying 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.’ It was also learnt that PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi reached out to other boards for garnering support for their decision to not play India, but did not receive any. ICC’s sanctions loom as Pakistan announce boycott of India match While there seems to be no going back for Pakistan now that their PM have reiterated their stance of not playing India, the PCB is likely to face sanctions from the ICC. These penalties include banning foreign players from getting NOCs to participate in Pakistan’s franchise T20 tournament, the Pakistan Super League (PSL). The ICC might also not consider Pakistan as a host nation for any of its tournaments in the future. On top, financial sanctions are reportedly expected as well, with the ICC set to suffer massive losses if there is no India vs Pakistan match. Why was Bangladesh removed from T20 World Cup? Bangladesh was removed from the T20 World Cup after they refused to travel to India citing security reasons. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and the ICC held several rounds of discussions and despite assurances from the apex body, Bangladesh remained firm in their stance. On 24 January, the ICC formally announced that Bangladesh have been replaced by Scotland in the T20 World Cup. PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi had slammed this decision, calling it ‘injustice’ and threatened to boycott the tournament.