India plans to send a team for the February 15 match against Pakistan despite the confirmed boycott.
Published February 5, 2026
India captain Suryakumar Yadav said his team will travel to Colombo as scheduled for the Twenty20 World Cup against arch-rivals Pakistan, despite Pakistan’s decision to boycott the match citing geopolitical tensions.
The Pakistani government has instructed the Pakistani team to boycott the Group A contest on February 15 in a show of solidarity with Bangladesh, where Scotland replaced Bangladesh, which refused to tour India citing security concerns.
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“Our thinking is clear,” Suryakumar told reporters at the captain’s pre-tournament news conference in Mumbai on Thursday.
“We’re not refusing to play. They are. We’ve booked a flight and we’re going.”
India, currently at the top of the T20 teams, are aiming to become the first team to defend their title and the first host nation to win the T20 World Cup.
Pakistan’s boycott of the match against India means there is little margin for error in Pakistan’s goal of reaching the Super 8 stage, as only the top two teams in each group of the 20-team tournament will advance.
Group A will also include Namibia, the Netherlands and the United States, who shocked Pakistan in the 2024 tournament.
Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha said the decision to boycott the match against India was “out of our control”.
“This is the government’s decision and we will respect it,” Salman told reporters in Colombo.
“Well, we lost to America in the last World Cup, but that’s history. This is a new World Cup, a new team, a new combination.
“All three teams in our group are very good teams… so we are preparing for these games as we always do against other teams.”
Asked what would happen if India and Pakistan meet in the final, Salman said he would follow the government’s advice.
Australia loses to Pakistan in playdown series
Australia captain Mitchell Marsh downplayed the importance of a 3-0 series win in Pakistan ahead of the tournament.
“Look, Pakistan was Pakistan. We were missing some players and we came here with a long lead-in,” Marsh said. “I want to prepare well for the first match.”
Australia will be without Pat Cummins due to injury, while Josh Hazlewood is likely to miss the opening games.
Marsh showed confidence in their bowling depth.
“One of the great things about Pat and Josh in particular is that they’re all three-format players, but we’ve been able to build a lot of depth within the team and the players that have come in have played a lot of cricket in our group.
“So we have a lot of confidence in them to come out there and do their job when we need them to. And we just pick our teams based on the situation.”
England captain Harry Brook was optimistic about their chances of winning a third T20 World Cup title.
“We’re confident. We want to go all the way in the tournament, but we still want to take it one game at a time,” Brook said.
