Pakistan not to play group-stage match against India in ICC T20 World Cup 2026
Walkover would hand full points to India, could lead to major sanctions for Pakistan
Teams have forfeited matches in past in 1996 and 2003 ODI World Cups
Ending days of speculation around Pakistan's participation, the country's government on Sunday (February 1, 2026) announced that its cricket team would travel to Sri Lanka for ICC T20 World Cup 2026, but not play the high-voltage clash against India on February 15 in Colombo.
Though the rationale for the forfeiture was not revealed, it is being looked at as a political protest after Bangladesh’s removal from the T20 World Cup. The International Cricket Council (ICC) had booted out the Bangla Tigers following their cricket board's refusal to send the team to India.
The India vs Pakistan match is the show-stopping clash of any ICC event, drawing the most global eyeballs, sponsorship interest and broadcast revenues. Its boycott is expected to pose logistical and regulatory challenges for the ICC, which has built much of the tournament’s scheduling, marketing and commercial strategy around the big-ticket clash.
A walkover would hand full points to India, and the global governing body also holds the power to impose financial penalties on the PCB. The board could be asked to pay full compensation to Jio-Star for the resultant revenue loss, there could be sanctions on bilateral series, impact on World Test Championship points and ICC rankings, and the ICC annual revenue pay-out could be withheld too. A complete ban from the T20 World Cup is not out of question either.
Let us take a look at a couple of past instances when teams forfeited matches in ICC events:
2003 ODI World Cup: England And New Zealand
The tournament was jointly hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya. England refused to play against Zimbabwe in Harare, citing security concerns amid the UK government’s disapproval of the Robert Mugabe-led regime. New Zealand, on the other hand, did not travel to Nairobi for their match against Kenya, also owing to security apprehensions. In both cases, the ICC refused to relocate the matches and awarded full points to Zimbabwe and Kenya, respectively.
1996 ODI World Cup: Australia And West Indies
Sri Lanka co-hosted the 1996 tournament along with present-day 'enemies' India and Pakistan. However, Australia and the West Indies declined travelling to Sri Lanka given the prevailing civil war, with a bomb having exploded in Colombo a fortnight before the start of the showpiece. Both teams forfeited their group-stage matches, and the Lankans ended up beating Australia in Lahore in the final to lift the Cup!
