The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was looking to the Pakistani government to participate in the upcoming T20 World Cup. After discussions with the board, the country’s government has allowed Shaheen Afridi to play in the World Cup. However, they have decided to boycott the match against India in the group stage.

Pakistan’s government has confirmed in a statement on Sunday (February 1) that it will boycott the World Cup and the India match. The decision was taken in protest against the ICC’s decision regarding Bangladesh.

The Pakistan government has said, ‘The Pakistan government has given permission to the Pakistan cricket team to participate in the ICC T20 World Cup 2026. However, the Pakistan team will not take the field in the match against India on February 15, 2026.’

PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi met with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad on January 26. In that meeting, the government gave guidelines regarding the participation of the Pakistani team in the World Cup. Now, India has officially announced the boycott of the match.

The incident began after Mustafizur Rahman was dropped from the IPL. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) dropped the pacer citing security concerns. Then, Bangladesh refused to travel to India to play in the World Cup citing the same reason.

Due to security concerns, the BCB had requested the ICC to move Bangladesh’s matches to co-host Sri Lanka instead of India. However, despite several discussions, Bangladesh could not persuade the ICC. In the end, the ICC included Scotland in the World Cup instead of Bangladesh. The PCB has been protesting this decision of the ICC since the beginning. This time, they have decided to boycott the match with India.