Pakistan denies taking field against India in Colombo on February 15
Pakistan mutually decided to play with Indian on neutral venue last year
ICC is gearing to heavily penalise PCB, if they maintain their stance of selective participation
Pakistan have sent shockwaves in international cricket by deciding to forfeit their marquee clash against arch-rivals India citing their government's diktat on this matter.
Pakistan is scheduled to play against India in the Group A fixture in Colombo on February 15, 2026, but in a recent social media post, the Pakistan government has stated that their team will participate in the upcoming World Cup but won't take the field against India on the stipulated date.
Though, the decision has not been communicated officially by the PCB but ICC have already taken a stance on this matters based on Pakistan government's official announcement.
The Apex body of cricket has called out Pakistan's selective participation against the premise of ICC competitions and sportsmanship and have subtly warned them of the long-lasting ramifications of their decision.
Strong Reactions Within India
Pakistan's decision of boycotting India's World Cup match has not gone well among those in power in India, and some influential people have come out in public to call the neighbour's out on their stance.
The BCCI vice-president, Rajiv Shukla has backed ICC over its comments on Pakistan's decision being the spirit of competitiveness, spirit of the game and sportsmanship.
"ICC has issued a big statement, they have spoken about sportsmanship. We completely agree with the ICC. BCCI won't make any comments on it until we speak with the ICC," commented Shukla on the India-Pakistan row.
Former cricketers Harbhajan Singh and Sunil Gavaskar have also criticised Pakistan for disrupting the World Cup. Check out the reactions from the Indian stalwarts here.
Meawhile, Congress MP, Shashi Tharoor has come down hard on PCB calling their decision pretty disgraceful. He stated that the sport is being politicised and concerned parties to come together to resolve the matter.
In an interview to ANI Shashi Tharoor said, "It's pretty disgraceful that sport has been politicised in this way on both sides, frankly. I don't think that Mustafizur should've been denied his contract to play in Kolkata. It was most unfortunate. Intrusion of politics, I think the Bangladeshi reaction was an overreaction, but it's also a reflection of the same and Pakistan is trying to show its solidarity with Bangladesh. This whole thing is spiralling out of control.
