Pakistan will boycott its T20 World Cup group stage match against India on Feb 15. Ex-cricketer S Badrinath suggested the decision stems from 'fear' of India's formidable batting lineup, which recently dominated New Zealand in a T20I series.
Following the Pakistan government's decision to have their men's cricket team boycott the group stage T20 World Cup clash against India, former Indian cricketer Subramaniam Badrinath quipped that the team had made this move perhaps out of fear of facing a dangerous Indian T20I batting line-up.
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. Taking to X, Badrinath wrote, "Fear of facing this Indian batting order ? #INDvPAK #T20WorldCup." https://x.com/i/status/2017982586879197221
India's Dominance Over Pakistan
Pakistan has 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.
Red-Hot Indian Batting Line-up
During the recent NZ series at home, Indian batters were in top form, smashing a total of 69 sixes, the most by a team in a bilateral series. While they started the series with the first T20I by scoring 238 runs, they took their domination notches further in coming matches. In the third T20I, they chased 209 runs in 15.3 overs and chased 154 runs in just 10 overs. Saving the best for the last, India scored a mammoth 271/5 in the final T20I.
During the series, Abhishek Sharma (182 runs at a strike rate of almost 250 with two fifties), Ishan Kishan (215 runs in four matches at a strike rate of over 231 with a century and fifty), and skipper Suryakumar Yadav (242 runs in five matches at a strike rate of over 196 with three fifties) gave the T20 WC participating teams a trailer of what could be expected from this power-packed lineup, which also includes Tilak, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, and Shivam Dube.
Pakistan Government's Official Stance
Pakistan had last month announced its squad for the T20 World Cup being hosted by India and Sri Lanka. "The Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan grants approval to the Pakistan Cricket Team to participate in the ICC World T20 2026; however, the Pakistan Cricket Team shall not take the field in the match scheduled on 15th February 2026 against India," said the post by the Government of Pakistan.
The Pakistan government did not give any reason for its decision not to play against India. 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 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".
Bangladesh's Withdrawal and Scotland's Entry
The International Cricket Council (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.
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. 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.
T20 World Cup Groups and Schedule
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 on February 12.
Team Squads for T20 World Cup 2026
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, and 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. (ANI)
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)