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Muhammad Naeem Khan Niazi
LAHORE, Feb 01 (APP): The Pakistan government allowed Pakistan cricket team to play ICC Men’s T20I World Cup 2026 but it barred the Green Shirts from taking field against Indian cricket team in the upcoming fixture on February 15.
The ICC Men’s T20I World Cup 2026 is scheduled to be played between February 7 and March 8 in India and Sri Lanka.
In a Pakistan government’s social media post on X on Sunday evening, it said ” 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”.
The decision to boycott fixture against India comes in the aftermath of Indian Cricket’s decision not to shake hands with Pakistani cricketers to protest against the baseless allegation of an attack in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK). The Indian cricket team was also tacitly protesting after Pakistan armed forces downed Indian war planes for violating Pakistan’s air space in the dark of night.
This saga of not shaking hands further aggravated when Indian Cricket team, ignoring all principles of decency and sportsmanship, refused to receive ACC trophy from PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi who also head Asian Cricket Council (ACC).
PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi has urged time and against that sports should stand above politics but the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has not reciprocated the good-will gesture of PCB.