File Pic: Pakistani players during a practice session. (PTI Photo)

NEW DELHI: The upcoming ICC T20 World Cup is set to suffer a big jolt with the Pakistan govt on Sunday announcing that its cricket team will boycott its league match against India in Colombo on February 15. While Pakistan govt didn’t provide any reason for the move, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi had warned of drastic steps after Bangladesh was replaced with Scotland on January 24.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!The International Cricket Council (ICC) reacted sharply to development, stating: “ICC hopes PCB will consider the significant and long-term implications for cricket in its own country as this is likely to impact the global cricket ecosystem, which it is itself a member and beneficiary of.”

“The ICC notes the statement that the govt of Pakistan has made regarding the decision to instruct its national team to selectively participate in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. While the ICC awaits official communication from the Pakistan Cricket Board, this position of selective participation is difficult to reconcile with the fundamental premise of a global sporting event where all qualified teams are expected to compete on equal terms per the event schedule,” an ICC statement said.Sources told TOI that ICC could contemplate expelling Pakistan from the World Cup and future ICC tournaments if the PCB goes ahead with boycotting the scheduled match against India. PCB may have to pay the broadcastersThe govt of Pakistan’s official handle posted the decision on X. “The Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan grants approval to the Pakistan cricket team to participate in the ICC World T20 2026, how- ever, the Pakistan Cricket Team shall not take the field in the match scheduled on 15th February 2026 against In- dia,” the post read. It needs to be seen what Pakistan’s stance will be if they are drawn with India for the tournament semifinal. If the match doesn’t happen, broadcasters and the sponsors will incur enormous losses as the fixture has generated a major chunk of revenue from ICC tournaments over the last decade, as diplomatic relationship between the two countries froze. For the match to be forfeited in favour of India, the Indian team must be at the ground at the time of toss. According to ICC’s playing conditions, Pakistan will lose two points from the match and their net run rate will also take a hit. India and Pakistan are in Group A with USA, Namibia and Netherlands. Two teams from the group will qualify for the Super 8 stage.Over the last decade, ICC tournaments have always been guaranteed of at least one India-Pakistan match in the group stages. Each match has broken viewership records. Despite PCB struggling to generate revenue, it gets the fourth highest share of ICC’s annual revenue based on the revenue generated through India-Pakistan matches. PCB currently gets $34.5 million annually from ICC. Sources said ICC could penalise PCB by asking them to financially compensate for the loss of revenue from this match. The world body also mulls denying giving out No Objection Certificates to players across the globe to participate in the Pakistan Super League. If ICC decides to compensate broadcasters from PCB’s annual share of ICC revenue, then PCB could stand to lose around 70-80% of $34.5 million that they currently receive from ICC. There’s a possibility of major member boards like England and Australia may refuse to play bilateral series in Pakistan.