Pakistan's T20 World Cup participation hangs in balance, Mohsin Naqvi to meet PM Shehbaz Sharif
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Pakistan's T20 World Cup participation hangs in balance, Mohsin Naqvi to meet PM Shehbaz Sharif")
Pakistan's T20 World Cup participation hangs in balance, Mohsin Naqvi to meet PM Shehbaz Sharif Photograph: (AFP)
Unlike Bangladesh, Pakistan are not scheduled to play in India and will play in Sri Lanka even if they qualify for the semifinal and the final of the T20 World Cup.
Pakistan’s participation in the upcoming T20 World Cup hangs in the balance after Mohsin Naqvi, Federal Minister for Interior Affairs, is set to meet Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The latest development comes just hours after Bangladesh were officially ruled out of the T20 World Cup, having refused to travel to India. Unlike Bangladesh, Pakistan are not scheduled to play in India and will play in Sri Lanka even if they qualify for the semifinal and the final of the T20 World Cup.
Pakistan’s T20 World Cup participation in doubt
"Our stance (on World Cup participation) will be what the government of Pakistan instructs me. The Prime Minister is not in Pakistan right now. When he returns, I'll be able to give you our final decision. It's the government's decision. We obey them, not the ICC,” Naqvi said to Geo News as quoted by Espncricinfo.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had earlier claimed that it would pull out of the T20 World Cup if Bangladesh decided not to tour India. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) remained firm on its stand and was officially replaced by Scotland on Saturday. However, just hours later, it’s the PCB now threatening to boycott the T20 World Cup, which starts on Feb 7 in India and will be unofficially co-hosted by Sri Lanka.
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At an ICC meeting last week, the PCB was understood to be the only board to back the BCB in their stance. The tournament is jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka, but Bangladesh's games were all scheduled in India. Bangladesh, however, has said it is no longer safe for them to play in India after the BCCI, on January 3, instructed Kolkata Knight Riders to release Mustafizur Rahman from their IPL 2026 squad.
Earlier, ICC had warned Pakistan against pulling out of T20 World Cup 2026. So it will be interesting to see what stance Pakistan takes.
