Pakistan warned against ‘spoiling relations with ICC’ amid T20 World Cup boycott talks

Former Pakistan cricketers and board officials have warned the PCB against spoiling its relationship with the ICC by contemplating a boycott of the 2026 T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka. Unsure about its participation in the 20-team tournament starting February 7, PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi claims to reveal the board’s decision on Friday or Monday, whether they will continue with their participation or withdraw their name from the tournament. Should the latter happen, the ICC is reportedly keeping Bangladesh, a team they recently replaced Scotland with, on standby.

After failing to find a middle ground on the venue row concerning Bangladesh, the apex body replaced them with a lower-ranked team on the standings (Scotland) in Group C. Pakistan, on the other hand, jumped into this conversation out of nowhere showing solidarity with the BCB, while threatening to pull its name out of this showpiece event on the pretext of injustice done to the Bangladesh Cricket and its fans. While the BCB decided against taking any legal action against cricket’s governing body, the PCB continues to put logistics, sponsors, broadcasters, and who ’s-who in limbo.

Also read | Bangladesh journalists won’t cover T20 World Cup as ICC rejects over 130 applications – Report

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'Support is fine, but be realistic'

A PTI report states how several former players and board members have reacted to PCB derailing its tournament’s participation. Ex-PCB chairman Khalid Mahmood and former board secretary Arif Ali Abbasi shared logical reasoning, suggesting that whatever the PCB is doing is unreasonable and could hurt its cricket.

“I can understand Pakistan supporting Bangladesh, but what purpose will PCB achieve by not sending its team apart from spoiling relations with the International Cricket Council and member boards,” Abbasi said, stressing that the PCB must prioritise Pakistan cricket. “What about our relations with Sri Lanka? Obviously, Sri Lanka will suffer losses if Pakistan doesn’t go as all our matches are in Sri Lanka, including matches with India,” he also pointed out.

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On the other hand, Mahmood called PCB’s stance ‘laudable’ but urged practicality.

“We have to remember that, except for Pakistan, no other cricket board supported the Bangladesh demand to move matches from India. I can understand the stance taken by the Bangladesh board, but it is also a fact that no one supported them in the ICC meeting,” he said.

Meanwhile, former Test batsman, chief selector and head coach Mohsin Khan shared similar views, saying, “We have issues with India, but we are playing all our matches in Sri Lanka. So, then on what grounds will the PCB not send its team to the World Cup? It will be bad for our cricket,” he cautioned.

Inzamam-ul-Haq, the former Pakistan captain, also urged the board to go ahead with the participation.

“I personally would like to see Pakistan compete in the World Cup. We have some good players and our cricket needs to see our team doing well in big events,” he said.

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