Pakistan’s government has ordered its cricket team to play against India in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Sunday.
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Pakistan’s cricket team will play the T20 World Cup against India on February 15 as per government orders, reversing an earlier decision to boycott matches against arch-rivals citing geopolitical tensions.
“The Government of Pakistan directs the Pakistan team to participate in the scheduled ICC Men’s T20 World Cup matches on February 15, 2026,” the government said in a statement on Monday.
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The announcement came shortly after Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi met with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and relayed the results of his talks with representatives of the International Cricket Council (ICC) and Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB).
ICC leaders held conciliatory talks with BCB President Aminul Islam and Mr. Naqvi on Sunday with the aim of persuading Pakistan to end its boycott of the marquee clashes.
Pakistan’s government said it had “considered formal requests from the BCB and supportive communications from Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates and other member states” seeking “workable solutions to recent challenges”.
Additionally, Pakistani Prime Minister Sharif received a phone call from Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who urged Pakistan to reverse its decision.
Pakistan will play all their World Cup matches in Sri Lanka, which is co-hosting the tournament with India.
The cancellation of the high-profile match would have been an economic blow to the island nation, which relies heavily on tourism.
Hours before Pakistan withdrew its decision, the ICC issued a statement regretting Bangladesh’s “unfortunate absence” from the tournament after the international cricket body expelled Bangladesh for refusing to travel to India.
The ICC replaced Bangladesh with Scotland last month after the South Asian nation announced it would not play its World Cup matches in India, citing safety and security concerns for players and staff.
This was an unprecedented decision and had ripple effects on the tournament as Pakistan expressed solidarity with Bangladesh and said it would not play against India.
Pakistan’s boycott was the first in the history of an India-Pakistan match at an ICC event and shocked the cricket world.
Behind-the-scenes negotiations, conference calls and meetings followed, culminating in the arrival of ICC officials in Pakistan last weekend.
The latest meeting between the international body and the two South Asian boards reached an agreement to hold the match as scheduled.
After Pakistan called off its boycott, the ICC said in a short statement: “All member nations have agreed to honor their commitments under the ICC Event Participation Rules and do all necessary to ensure the success of the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.”
Promise to Bangladesh
The ICC said it would encourage the growth of the game of cricket in the country, which has “more than 200 million passionate fans”, to ensure that the team’s expulsion from the T20 World Cup “does not have a long-term impact on domestic cricket”.
At the same time, the ICC announced that “no financial, sporting or administrative penalties will be imposed” against Bangladesh.
ICC further added: “An agreement has been reached for Bangladesh to host an ICC event ahead of the 2031 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.”
