The Pakistan government has cleared its men’s cricket team to take part in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 but with a major condition attached. While the team has been allowed to compete in the tournament, it has been instructed not to play the scheduled match against India on February 15 in Colombo.
The decision was made public on Sunday through an official government social media post. In the message, the government confirmed its approval for Pakistan’s participation in the World Cup but made it clear that the team would not take the field for the India clash. No specific reason was mentioned in the announcement but the move has immediately drawn attention because of the importance of India–Pakistan matches in global cricket.
This development means Pakistan will feature in the rest of the tournament as planned but the most anticipated group-stage fixture of the competition is now under a cloud of uncertainty. The decision has already sparked widespread discussion among fans and officials, with many waiting to see how cricket’s governing bodies and the Pakistan Cricket Board respond to the situation.
Soon after this announcement, cricket fans started reacting on X (formerly Twitter), while Indians made fun of Pakistan and the PCB for taking this step, Pakistani fans defended it by saying they chose respect over money by skipping their match against India.
Indian politician Shashi Tharoor also reacted to this matter; while talking to reporters, he called this incident disgraceful and asked the ICC to stop this drama because things can’t continue like this forever.
Here is the video:
https://x.com/ANI/status/2018201942137463178
Click to watch this video directly on X
The former Indian cricketer Aakash chopra also posted a video in which he express shock over this decision. He shared the video with the caption, “Pakistan to boycott the match vs India. On the day, India U19 defeated Pakistan U19. Make me make sense of this. Please #T20WorldCup #INDvsPAK #U19WorldCup”
https://x.com/cricketaakash/status/2017997252468650258
Watch this video on X by clicking here
Check out some other reactions:
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https://x.com/Gautam__kumar/status/2017983097590165885
https://x.com/Surendr0032083/status/2018010244635611387
https://x.com/yadav_jati17044/status/2018148292539150663
https://x.com/RcbUnivers63249/status/2018011351923474487
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