Pakistan will not play its highly anticipated match against India in the T20 World Cup. The Pakistani team was scheduled to depart for Sri Lanka today and will play two preparatory matches before facing the Netherlands on February 7 in their tournament opener. However, the February 15 match against India in Colombo has been officially boycotted, as announced last night via the Pakistan government’s official social media channels.
All of Pakistan’s World Cup matches are set to take place in Sri Lanka. By skipping the India fixture, the Pakistani team will not take the field that day. Meanwhile, India’s remaining group-stage matches—except for the Pakistan game—will be played in India. India had only planned to travel to Sri Lanka to play against Pakistan.
Following Pakistan’s decision, ANI spoke with a Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) official regarding India’s next steps. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official stated that India will adhere strictly to the schedule and protocols set by the International Cricket Council (ICC). “India will travel to Sri Lanka on February 15 and comply with all ICC regulations,” the official said.
He added that India will conduct practice sessions, attend scheduled press conferences, and arrive at the stadium on time. The team will then await the match referee’s formal announcement of cancellation.
In the 2026 T20 World Cup, India and Pakistan are placed in Group A, along with the Netherlands, the United States, and Namibia. According to the schedule, India will travel within India for matches against the Netherlands, the U.S., and Namibia, and will travel to Sri Lanka only for the Pakistan fixture.
India’s first group-stage match is on February 7 in Mumbai against the United States, followed by a game against Namibia in Delhi on February 12. The trip to Sri Lanka was scheduled solely for the Pakistan encounter.
The Pakistani government has not provided an official reason for boycotting the India match. However, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has publicly criticized the ICC over “double standards” in the past two weeks. The PCB alleges that while the ICC took India’s security concerns seriously last year, similar concerns raised for Bangladesh were ignored, raising questions about the governing body’s policy consistency.
This uncertainty surrounding the India-Pakistan clash adds a new layer of complexity to the group stage and could have wider implications for the tournament’s overall dynamics.