T20 World Cup 2026: ICC Criticizes Pakistan’s ‘Selective Participation’ After Boycotting India Clash

Pakistan will skip its T20 World Cup 2026 group match against India, drawing ICC criticism for ‘selective participation’ and urging PCB to resolve the issue, raising concerns about cricket’s integrity after Bangladesh earlier refused to play India.

Hours after Pakistan decided to boycott its T20 World Cup group stage clash against India, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said that "selective participation" is not fair with the "fundamental premise of a global sporting event" and that it expects the PCB to explore a mutually acceptable resolution, which protects the interests of all stakeholders.

Pakistan has decided to boycott its group-stage match against India in the ICC World T20 World Cup, scheduled for February 15. The Pakistan government said in a post on X that the Pakistan Team "shall not take the field" in the match against India without giving any reason. 

Pakistan's ‘Selective Participation’ Drawn Cricitism from ICC

ICC said in a release that it has noted the statement that the Government of Pakistan has made regarding the decision to instruct its national team to selectively participate in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026.

"While the ICC awaits official communication from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), this position of selective participation is difficult to reconcile with the fundamental premise of a global sporting event where all qualified teams are expected to compete on equal terms per the event schedule," the release said.

It said that ICC tournaments are built on sporting integrity, competitiveness, consistency and fairness, and selective participation undermines the spirit and sanctity of the competitions.

"While the ICC respects the roles of governments in matters of national policy, this decision is not in the interest of the global game or the welfare of fans worldwide, including millions in Pakistan. The ICC hopes that the PCB will consider the significant and long-term implications for cricket in its own country as this is likely to impact the global cricket ecosystem, which it is itself a member and beneficiary of," the release said.

It said ICC's priority remains the successful delivery of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup which should also be the responsibility of all its members including the PCB. 

"It expects the PCB to explore a mutually acceptable resolution, which protects the interests of all stakeholders," the release said.

Pakistan's Terrible Record against Team India

Pakistan have a terrible record against India in the ICC T20 World Cups. The two teams have played eight times, with the record standing at 7-1 in India's favour. In the Asia Cup last year, Pakistan were clean-swept by a clinical India in a trilogy of entertaining matches, including the final. Throughout these matches, young Indian stars Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma bullied Pakistan bowlers with their fiery knocks, with Tilak scoring a brilliant 69* during a tense 147-run chase in the final, showing his big-match temperament.

Pakistan had last month announced its squad for the T20 World Cup being hosted by India and Sri Lanka. They are placed in Group A alongside India, Namibia, the Netherlands and the USA. 

The Indian team is in terrific form ahead of the World Cup and won the five-match T20I series against New Zealand 4-1. 

Pakistan's Bangladesh Support to be Backfired

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman and the country's interior minister, Mohsin Naqvi, last month met Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to brief him on the matter of the International Cricket Council (ICC) decision after Bangladesh refused to send its team to India over purported "security concerns". 

ICC had last month announced that Scotland will replace Bangladesh in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 after the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) refused to participate in the tournament per the published match schedule.

The announcement came after the ICC, in the absence of any credible or verifiable security threat to the Bangladesh national team in India, rejected the BCB's demand to move its matches from India to Sri Lanka, in the 20-team tournament to be played from February 7 to March 8, according to a release. 

The decision followed an extensive process undertaken by the ICC to address concerns raised by the BCB regarding the hosting of its scheduled matches in India. Over a period of more than three weeks, the ICC engaged with the BCB through multiple rounds of dialogue conducted in a transparent and constructive manner, including meetings held both via video conference and in-person.

ICC Rejects Bangladesh's Request for Venue Change

As part of this process, the ICC reviewed the concerns cited by the BCB, commissioned and considered independent security assessments from internal and external experts, and shared detailed security and operational plans covering federal and state arrangements, as well as enhanced and escalating security protocols for the event. These assurances were reiterated at several stages, including during discussions involving the ICC Business Corporation (IBC) Board.

The ICC's assessments concluded that there was no credible or verifiable security threat to the Bangladesh national team, officials or supporters in India. In light of these findings, and after careful consideration of the broader implications, the ICC determined that it was not appropriate to amend the published event schedule. The ICC also noted the importance of preserving the integrity and sanctity of the tournament schedule, safeguarding the interests of all participating teams and fans, and avoiding the establishment of precedents that could undermine the neutrality and fairness of ICC events.

Following its meeting, the IBC Board requested the BCB to confirm, within a 24-hour timeframe, whether Bangladesh would participate in the tournament as scheduled. As no confirmation was received within the stipulated deadline, the ICC proceeded in line with its established governance and qualification processes to identify a replacement team.

Bangladesh Replaced by Scotland

Scotland are the highest-ranked T20I side not to originally qualify for the tournament. They are currently ranked 14th, ahead of seven teams already in the tournament, Namibia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Nepal, the United States of America (USA), Canada, Oman and Italy.

The defending champions, Team India, are slotted in Group A alongside Namibia, the Netherlands, the USA, and arch-rivals Pakistan. The Men in Blue will play their opening fixture against the USA on February 7, followed by their match against on February 12. 

Team India squad for ICC T20 World Cup 2026:

Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Rinku Singh.

Pakistan squad for ICC T20 World Cup 2026: 

Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Mohammad Nafay (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (wicketkeeper), Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan, Usman Tariq. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)