Top News

ICC World Cup 2026: Is Pakistan giving India fake boycott threats? Will Pakistan eventually end up playing the big-ticket T20 WC game vs India? In a shocker of a move, the X handle of the government of Pakistan put out a tweet confirming that they would travel to Sri Lanka and feature in the T20 World Cup, but will not feature in the game against arch-rivals India. 

Once the tweet was put out, all hell broke lose. While no one could believe how could Pakistan muster such courage to threaten the ICC, others cricticised the move to the hilt. What happens now with a fortnight still left for the high-octane game? 

Why a Pakistan U-turn is Likely?

The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Shariff, recently admitted at a global stage that how he, along with Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir travel around the world asking money as loan from other nations. This clearly exposes the financial state of the country. It is no secret, that, Pakistan as a country is financially reeling and now they cannot afford more losses going ahead. Cricket is the only thing that gives Pakistan some kind of global recognition and they very well know that. They know that they are wrong to jump into this as they would not have to travel to India for their game. It is clear that Pakistan government is doing political posturing in their country and for Bangladesh. Do not forgot, Bangladesh go to elections on February 12 and the match is scheduled three days later. It could very well be that the Bangladesh government and the Pakistan government are hand-in-gloves in this matter. 

The PCB may stretch it to the last-minute and then say that we will play the game against India. It is also clear that Pakistan is buying time to keep the intrigue intact. Buy doing so, they are winning applause in their government. 

Game. Set. Match For Pakistan Cricket

PCB are well-aware of the fact that the ICC could levy such sanctions that could wipe out the existence of cricket in the terror-ridden country. In case they boycott the India game, Pakistan would not only face financial losses, but would also lose global face - as ICC members may not want to defy the apex board and travel to Pakistan for bilateral series. Pakistan does realise after the voting process for Bangladesh, that it is isolated and cornered miserably.