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Pakistan has confirmed it will not play its Group A match against India in the 2026 T20 World Cup. An official statement from the Government of Pakistan’s X account said the team has permission to participate in the tournament in Sri Lanka but “shall not take the field in the match scheduled on 15 February 2026 against India.” No official reason was provided for the decision.
The India-Pakistan clash is typically the most watched and lucrative fixture of any ICC event. Since 2012, the ICC has ensured the two teams are in the same group, despite worsening diplomatic relations that have kept the nations from playing bilateral series for 14 years. This move makes the 2026 World Cup the first men’s ICC event since 2010 not to feature an India-Pakistan group-stage game.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has not yet formally notified the ICC about the boycott. The team remains scheduled to play its other Group A matches against the Netherlands (Feb 7), USA (Feb 10), and Namibia (Feb 18), all in Sri Lanka, one of the tournament’s co-hosts alongside India.
If Pakistan forfeits the India fixture, it will lose the two points and its net run rate will be negatively affected, while India’s points and net run rate will remain intact, according to ICC Playing Conditions. This decision comes amid earlier controversies over Bangladesh’s removal from the tournament after refusing to play in India and Pakistan’s vocal support for an alternative venue, which had sparked debates about perceived ICC favoritism.
