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Lahore, 1 February. Pakistan, which threatened to boycott the ICC T20 World Cup in support of Bangladesh, has now left a new caveat. In this sequence, the Pakistani government on Sunday formally announced its decision to boycott its much-awaited group league match against India in the T20 World Cup. But the government has approved the participation of the national team in the remaining matches of the tournament starting from February 7.

This decision of the Pakistan government is being seen as a protest against the inclusion of Scotland instead of Bangladesh in this World Cup. Bangladesh had demanded to shift its matches from India to Sri Lanka citing security reasons, but the ICC rejected it.

Pak team will not compete against India in Colombo on 15th February

In a statement issued on its social media account, the Pakistan government said that it has given permission to the Pakistan cricket team to participate in the tournament, but the team ‘will not take the field’ in the match against India in Colombo on February 15.

With this decision, the ongoing speculation regarding Pakistan’s participation in the tournament has ended. This decision has come in the environment of increased political tension in the region with this tournament being jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka.

The government said on social media, ‘The Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan approves the participation of the Pakistan cricket team in the ICC T20 World Cup 2026, however, the Pakistan cricket team will not take the field in the scheduled match against India on 15 February 2026.’ Earlier, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had said that the final decision on the team’s participation will be taken by the government after Bangladesh was eliminated from the tournament.