Pakistan’s place at the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup is no longer certain. PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi confirmed on Saturday that the board will seek guidance from Islamabad before confirming whether Babar Azam’s side will board the plane.
Key facts first
• ICC removed Bangladesh from the tournament after the BCB again refused to play any group games in India.
• Scotland have been drafted in as replacements.
• Pakistan, who had publicly backed Bangladesh at last week’s ICC board meeting, now say the government will make the final call on their own participation.
Naqvi, speaking minutes after the ICC statement, was blunt. “Our stance [on World Cup participation] will be what the government of Pakistan instructs me,” he said. “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.”
Why Bangladesh were pulled
Relations between New Delhi and Dhaka have soured in recent months. The tipping point for cricket came on 3 January when the BCCI told Kolkata Knight Riders to release Mustafizur Rahman from their 2026 IPL squad. No official reason was offered, but the message was clear to the BCB. A day later the board wrote to the ICC, citing security concerns and insisting its T20 World Cup fixtures be moved away from India. The tournament is co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka; Bangladesh were drawn to play all four group games on Indian soil.
Several rounds of talks followed. The ICC refused any switch and, earlier this week, gave Bangladesh a final deadline — accept the original schedule or withdraw. The BCB stood its ground, the deadline passed, and on Saturday morning the ICC confirmed Bangladesh were out.
Naqvi sees a double standard
“I think Bangladesh has been hard done by,” Naqvi said. “You can’t have double standards. You can’t say for one country [India] they can do whatever they want and for the others to have to do the complete opposite. That’s why we’ve taken this stand, and made clear Bangladesh have had an injustice done to them. They should play in the World Cup, they are a major stakeholder in cricket.”
The PCB was the only full member to back Bangladesh during last week’s ICC meeting. Insiders say Pakistan even floated the idea of swapping group venues — Pakistan’s group games are in Sri Lanka — but the proposal went nowhere.
What next for Pakistan?
Locally, speculation has grown that the PCB could boycott the tournament in solidarity with Bangladesh. The board itself had stayed quiet until Naqvi’s weekend media chat, and even now the message is deliberately cautious.
“If the government of Pakistan says we mustn’t play, then maybe the ICC will bring in a 22nd team (after Scotland). It’s up to the government,” the chairman added, half-jokingly but leaving the door open.
Political clearance is not a formality. Pakistan have travelled to India for ICC events only twice in the last decade, and tensions remain high after last year’s Asia Cup venue wrangle. At the 2023 ODI World Cup the Pakistan squad required extraordinary security and still played all but one match away from the major northern centres.
Any sporting consequences?
From a cricketing standpoint, a withdrawal would be messy. The ICC would need a replacement inside three months — perhaps Ireland or the UAE — and Pakistan’s absence would damage broadcast value. For the PCB, sitting out a global event also carries commercial penalties, though those details remain confidential in the current rights cycle.
Voice of the players
Current Pakistan players have kept their heads down, publicly at least. A senior squad member, speaking off record, said the dressing-room “just wants clarity soon” so that preparation camps in Karachi and Lahore can be finalised.
Coaching staff, meanwhile, are drawing up two schedules: one assuming group matches in Hambantota and Colombo, the other blocking out early June for warm-up fixtures only. Either way, the players are in the gym.
Wider reactions
A former ICC official, requesting anonymity, urged calm: “Political sign-off for Pakistan tours is nothing new. It usually comes, even if late. The bigger question is whether the global game can keep shrugging whenever a member says it feels unsafe in a host nation.”
Bangladesh cricket circles remain stunned. One senior BCB director told Bangla media he hoped “cooler heads prevail and the ICC revisits its stance”, although there is no sign of that.
The road ahead
Naqvi expects to meet the Prime Minister within a fortnight. Only then will Pakistan’s immediate World Cup future crystallise. Until that conversation happens, the most unpredictable side in T20 cricket are not even sure they will be present.
For now, Pakistan’s players train, the ICC tweaks the fixture list, and everyone waits for politics to run its course — again.
