By Admin 
Pakistan has refused to play the match against India in the T20 World Cup 2026. On Sunday, the Pakistan government had announced that its national cricket team will play in the World Cup tournament, but will not play against Team India on 15 February. On one hand, Pakistan may have to face huge losses for boycotting this match, it may also have to face sanctions by ICC. The question also arises whether according to the rule book, Pakistan can boycott only one match of the tournament.
Know here that if Pakistan boycotts only the match with India, then which ICC rules can be applied in this case.
walkover rule
According to ICC rules, if a team does not come on the field, then the walkover rule is applied. The match between India and Pakistan is to be played in Colombo on 15th February, in which the Pakistani team has refused to participate. Whereas if Team India wants 2 points, then it will have to be present on the field at the time of the match, only then it will be able to get a walkover over Pakistan.
In such a situation, Pakistan will have to suffer huge losses. In the event of a walkover, it will be assumed that Pakistan batted the entire 20 overs and scored 0 runs, this will have a big impact on its net run-rate.
financial loss
India vs Pakistan match is another name for profit. It is being told that broadcasters (like JioHotstar) may suffer a loss of 25-30 million US dollars in terms of ad revenue alone. According to the agreement, ICC will be liable for this loss. But ICC has the right to impose this loss on Pakistan. ICC can also impose a ban on Pakistan’s annual revenue share.
rule of government interference
According to Article 2.4 D of the ICC Constitution, a cricket board has to manage its own affairs without interference from the government. Australia and Sri Lanka are the two teams that have previously boycotted a match due to security reasons, but Pakistan is talking about boycotting the match to be held in Sri Lanka, which is already a neutral venue. Therefore, there was no point in Pakistan government’s interference in this matter. This would be considered a direct violation of the ICC Constitution.